Being Prepared…

A farmer needed a hired hand, but the only man who showed up for the job was a young drifter. He couldn’t drive a tractor, had never milked a cow, and knew little about planting or harvesting.

“What can you do?” the farmer asked, exasperated.

“I can sleep when the wind blows,” the drifter said.

The farmer didn’t understand what that meant, but he needed someone, and the young man seemed willing to learn. So he took the drifter on and began teaching him about taking care of the farm. He did seem good with the farm animals, and he listened closely to everything the farmer told him.

After a month, the farmer was asleep one night when a fierce storm hit. Worried about his livestock, he pounded on his hired hand’s door and found him sound asleep. He grew angry and left him in bed.

In his raincoat and boots, he went out into the storm, determined to bring his herd in despite the wind and rain. But when he reached the barn, he found all his animals peacefully inside. The feed bins had been closed and covered. The hired hand, anticipating the storm, had prepared everything for the beasts’ safety.

And then the farmer understood what the drifter had meant when he said, “I can sleep when the wind blows.”