Pauline Hylton is a freelance writer and exhausted farmer who lives outside of Mayberry on an old tobacco farm. She and her husband Tom tried farming full time, but ran out of back. Now Tom works, and Pauline stays home and eats dark chocolate. She has company: a standard poodle, two mutts, a lion-kitty, and a whole “mess” of chickens. Oh yeah, and there’s Molly, the great Pyrenees guards the chickens 24/7, and she’s good at it.
When she doesn’t eat one.
Pauline’s looking toward heaven, while laughing on earth.
She loves her Lord, her family, and dark chocolate—not necessarily in that order.
Pauline's book Growing in Christ From the Ground Up chronicles her years as a mediocre farmer teaching her that true growth comes from the inside.
We dropped our son off and I held back tears as I hugged him goodbye.
He is not eight and we didn’t leave him at camp for a week. He is 28 and we dropped him off at detox.
I’ve heard people say that when you have children you start wearing your heart on the outside.
I believe them. My heart feels like it is being stabbed.
But I cannot give up. Neither can he. Because of prayer. Because of the faithfulness of God. Because of His love.
You see, before our son was born, I prayed for a young man who would preach God’s Word and I got pregnant that same week. Often I’ve asked the Lord, “Are you sure it is him, Lord?” He keeps whispering, Trust.
The above verse comes from the passage in Jeremiah where the Lord is telling them they will be in exile for 70 years. Here is another excerpt from it,
“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem:” Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away!” (Jeremiah 29:4-6
This is what the LORD of Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: "Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away!
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NLT)
Sometimes, we may face a time of exile, just like Israel did. We cannot dwindle away. The Lord promises a future and a hope. If not in this world, in eternity.
My sister tells me to press into God’s love. Depend on His faithfulness. I am grateful that my future does not rest on my effort but on Him.
So, last night after I moped around for several days, I got up and went to our greenhouse. I harvested produce. Purple eggplant, red and yellow tomatoes, and orange peppers sit in a bowl on my dining room table. My husband and I moved a portable fence and put it away. And then I swept the porch of our workshop.
I know God well enough to know that the way the future will unfold will probably be much different than I imagine. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving, and magnificent. He knows the future and His plans are good. I am trusting that.
So, for now, I carry on. I plant gardens and look for grandchildren. And trust.
How about you? Are you in exile? Move forward. Press into God’s love.
“Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.” It was the fourth time that day I knelt in my bedroom over the old-fashioned ottoman crying out to the Lord.
Weakness has a way of forcing me to my knees.
That was a dark time in my life. I’d moved away from my friends, my church, and my life in sunny Florida to farm in North Carolina. And did I mention Tom and I brought my 92-year-old mother? And that we didn’t know anything about farming except for YouTube University?
As soon as I bowed down during those times, I felt lifted up. The Lord gave me just enough strength to make it a few hours and then it was time to kneel again.
The weakness continues. At first, it overwhelmed me, now I thank the Lord for it. Because it causes dependence.
2 Corinthians 12:9
Each time he said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
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states,
“My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness. So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me."
Seems odd, doesn’t it?
But then what Jesus said and did was usually contrary to the culture.
Still is.
For instance, Our culture says, You are strong-you can do it!
Jesus says, You have no strength, let Me do it.
Our culture says, Look out for yourself.
Jesus says, Serve others like I have served you.
Our culture says, Get all you can get in this life because you can’t take it with you.
Jesus says, Invest in heaven because you can take those investments with you.
God’s economy is not like the world’s economy. It pays eternal dividends and never rusts or fades.
During a time when my elderly parents lived with me, dad lost both legs to diabetes. I was almost at a breaking point when a dear saint from my church dropped in. She was not empty-handed. She brought two full meals from a local deli, paper plates, napkins, and silverware.
It probably cost her about $40. I still remember that day. She was a cup of cold water. A cool breeze in hot summer. My weakness gave her a chance to minister. I cried out, the Lord sent my friend to minister to my family.
I feel like in God’s economy that kind act is exponential. When I get to heaven, I will look her up and thank her again.
You know what she will probably say? I suspect it will be something like, “Thank the Lord.”
Ever felt helpless? Like you had no options and no strength?
I’ve felt that way on occasion. Most recently through 14 years of caregiving, and then a mid-life change of location and career.
My husband and I moved from sunny Florida to the foothills of North Carolina to farm on an old 66-acre tobacco farm Tom inherited.
Yes, you heard me correctly. Did we know how to farm? No. We couldn’t tell a squash plant from a sunflower. Were we enthusiastic? Yes. When we first arrived on the farm we got up early, planned like pros and laughed like kids.
Did we fail? Yes.
I didn’t see that coming. (Don’t laugh.)
One day stands out as a turning point for me. My assignment was to shovel manure out of the chicken coop in the mid-August sweltering heat. After about two hours of that, I cried out to God. Lord, why am I doing this? I used to be somebody! I thought I was too important to Him to shovel manure.
Over those next few years, my weakness forced me to fall on to my bruised knees several times a day singing the song "I Need You."
And I did.
And I do.
This wasn’t a song of praise. It was a cry of desperation.
As I look back, you know what I discovered? That was an extremely hard time — but it was a necessary good time. The Lord used hardship, isolation, and weakness to draw me closer to Him.
It produced endurance. Dependence. Humility.
John 15:5
"Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.
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says this, “
Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” (NLT)
We cannot save ourselves. We cannot depend on ourselves.
In America, self-dependence and self-sufficiency are applauded. In God’s economy, it is useless.
The Lord — in His mercy took me through a time when there was nowhere to look but up.
I’m glad.
I also think it will happen over and over since I’m a slow learner.
What about you? Are you depending on yourself?
The Great Shepherd says to cast our cares on Him. Because He is good. Because He has provided eternity — and it is based on His economy, not ours.
Lord, teach us dependence on You. Our culture teaches we can count on ourselves, but help us not to be fooled by the world. Thank you that we experience trials so that we can learn our true source of strength and salvation. Amen.
My pastor in Florida is Jewish. One Sunday, he looked out at his congregation of 30 plus years and said, “You look at me and wonder how I could be saved. I look out at you and wonder how you could be saved!”
He has a point. The gospel was given to the Jews. They never fathomed it could be offered to the Gentiles.
Until it was.
The good news of salvation through Jesus Christ is offered to all.
Sometimes, without even realizing it, I think something like, They don’t deserve salvation. Or, They could never be saved.
That is when I forget the passage in Romans 5:10
For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.
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that states,
"For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son." (NLT)
I was an enemy of Christ. Running from Him.
Until He saved me.
How could I look down on someone else because they are a different culture or color?
I like to imagine what heaven will be like. I especially like to think about the music. I have a feeling we will be shocked by it. Of course, "The Hallelujah Chorus" will be there. Along with "The Old Rugged Cross". But I tend to think there will be African music accompanied only by a drum—perhaps from the 15th century.
Or a tiny chorus with no rhyme, sung by a saint who sat alone in a dark prison cell awaiting execution. We have probably never heard of them, but we will in heaven.
And when we gather for worship there, it will be like Revelation 7:9
After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands.
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,
“After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands.” (NLT)
That will be marvelous.
Lord, help me never to look down on others or think I am better. Thank You that while I was Your enemy, You saved me!
Jesus always viewed servanthood as a privilege. He also taught that to His disciples.
As Americans, we tend to believe we have rights and we should assert our rights.
As Christians, we may have rights, but to serve and give up our rights is a privilege.
Just ask Jesus. Check out this passage inMatthew 16:24-25
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.
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,
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.’” (NLT)
I once heard a Christian musician say that a Christian is someone who is bananas about Jesus. That is a great definition. So, when we love Jesus and follow Him, we give up our lives and mirror His.
Thankfully, He has given us the Holy Spirit to help us. The change that took place in my view of caregiving is nothing other than miraculous. Divine.
Lord, it is hard to give up our rights. But You came as a baby to live in this sin-sick world because You loved us. As you have loved and served us, help us to love and serve others. In Your Holy name, Amen.
