MONROE - The worship service held Thursday in Twining Park was simple - a few hymns, a couple prayers and a chance to share the foods grown by farmers.
The day was breezy and the sun was warm, but not many farmers attended the service meant especially for them. Most of them were in the fields, picking the last of the dismal corn crop, a result of this summer's drought.
"Praying for rain doesn't guarantee you'll get rain," said Randy Booth, pastor of the Monroe United Methodist Church (UMC) that is hosting three monthly interdenominational worship services this fall in response to the drought. "But we can have a service to show our trust in God."
The prayer services came about as a result of a question by Amber Signer, the adult daughter of a local farmer and faithful member of the church, Mark Signer.
"Dad wants to know what the church can do about the drought," Booth recalled her saying.
The worship services, held the fourth Thursday of August, September and October, are "four little thanksgivings" that will usher in Thanksgiving Day in November, Booth said.
"We'll get into the habit of being thankful, even when all circumstances are not in our favor," he added.
The worship service this month was presented by Booth, Pastor Rick Haworth of Hope Evangelical Free Church and Father Larry Bakke of the St. Clare congregation in Monroe. Other area pastors were invited to lead the services in August and October.
Mark Signer, farming south of Monroe, was a featured speaker in August, sharing his faith testimony with those in attendance.
His message - God has not abandoned him - is especially poignant, said Booth, because Signer is not only suffering the drought along with the rest of the farmers, but he is also dealing with Parkinson's disease.
Diagnosed almost four years ago, Signer said Thursday he is "fascinated" by the body's biochemistry and structure, as he watches the affects and progression of the disease, a disorder of the brain that leads to shaking or tremors and difficulty with walking, movement and coordination.
He also never tires of telling people about his faith. He tells about approaching all life's difficulties the same way.
"It's God and Church and Jesus that gives grace beyond all understanding. If you don't know that at all, it's hard to understand," he said.
Signer's physical condition is about 98 percent good in the morning, he said, but as the day wears on, strength and coordination necessary for farming, particularly in his right hand and arm, also wear down.
But he knows his strength and coordination will return, so he goes in for the night and waits for morning. When he can't sleep, he reads the Bible - partly because his wife, Del, won't let him watch television.
Signer pointed to his right arm and then his left. "What He took away here, He gave me more over here, even though I got a finger missing," he said.
The missing middle finger came during the drought of 1988. The first week of June, in his mid-20s at the time, and "hopped up on Mountain Dew," Signer said he miscalculated his grasp on a silage fan.
But he also remembers the drought of 1988 because of his father, Dean. "We were done with haying, and nothing was growing," Signer recalled. Dean Signer went to southern Illinois, found about 20 semi loads of alfalfa hay and got it transported to Clarno, where 10 neighbors shared it.
"I was really proud of my dad for doing that," Signer said. "He got off his butt and did something."
Signer has learned to do more with his left hand, such as writing, shoveling and hooking up milking machines.
"Farmers deal with difficulties all the time," Signer said, and then he smiled. "We're like 'Little House on the Prairie' (the 1970s television show). There's the farm and the family and faith and rain and drought and snow."
Signer is proud of the fact that he can still climb up and down a 75-foot silo three times a day to check on its contents, which pales in comparison to working out at a gym lifting weights, he said. He's up at 6 a.m. to do paperwork, when his right hand can best pick up paper, before going out to milk at 9 a.m., and then he admits he's a little lazy.
"I compare farming to playing football," he said. "You get banged up by cows, and you get aches and pains and stressed out."
Signer is still not sure if he will have to sell off any of this 70 head of dairy cattle. He still has to take inventory of his feed, and he'll see if his brother will exchange some feed for his manure. Yes, manure is a commodity in farming.
"Oh, that's valuable. You don't ever want to let it run down the creek," he said.
But he has decided to keep on farming as long as possible. Farming, like life, is frustrating, he said.
"Losing loved ones, diseases, tough times. But you have to have hope and a real belief in heaven, and an understanding of the grace of Jesus on the cross," he said. "What else matters here in life?"
The day was breezy and the sun was warm, but not many farmers attended the service meant especially for them. Most of them were in the fields, picking the last of the dismal corn crop, a result of this summer's drought.
"Praying for rain doesn't guarantee you'll get rain," said Randy Booth, pastor of the Monroe United Methodist Church (UMC) that is hosting three monthly interdenominational worship services this fall in response to the drought. "But we can have a service to show our trust in God."
The prayer services came about as a result of a question by Amber Signer, the adult daughter of a local farmer and faithful member of the church, Mark Signer.
"Dad wants to know what the church can do about the drought," Booth recalled her saying.
The worship services, held the fourth Thursday of August, September and October, are "four little thanksgivings" that will usher in Thanksgiving Day in November, Booth said.
"We'll get into the habit of being thankful, even when all circumstances are not in our favor," he added.
The worship service this month was presented by Booth, Pastor Rick Haworth of Hope Evangelical Free Church and Father Larry Bakke of the St. Clare congregation in Monroe. Other area pastors were invited to lead the services in August and October.
Mark Signer, farming south of Monroe, was a featured speaker in August, sharing his faith testimony with those in attendance.
His message - God has not abandoned him - is especially poignant, said Booth, because Signer is not only suffering the drought along with the rest of the farmers, but he is also dealing with Parkinson's disease.
Diagnosed almost four years ago, Signer said Thursday he is "fascinated" by the body's biochemistry and structure, as he watches the affects and progression of the disease, a disorder of the brain that leads to shaking or tremors and difficulty with walking, movement and coordination.
He also never tires of telling people about his faith. He tells about approaching all life's difficulties the same way.
"It's God and Church and Jesus that gives grace beyond all understanding. If you don't know that at all, it's hard to understand," he said.
Signer's physical condition is about 98 percent good in the morning, he said, but as the day wears on, strength and coordination necessary for farming, particularly in his right hand and arm, also wear down.
But he knows his strength and coordination will return, so he goes in for the night and waits for morning. When he can't sleep, he reads the Bible - partly because his wife, Del, won't let him watch television.
Signer pointed to his right arm and then his left. "What He took away here, He gave me more over here, even though I got a finger missing," he said.
The missing middle finger came during the drought of 1988. The first week of June, in his mid-20s at the time, and "hopped up on Mountain Dew," Signer said he miscalculated his grasp on a silage fan.
But he also remembers the drought of 1988 because of his father, Dean. "We were done with haying, and nothing was growing," Signer recalled. Dean Signer went to southern Illinois, found about 20 semi loads of alfalfa hay and got it transported to Clarno, where 10 neighbors shared it.
"I was really proud of my dad for doing that," Signer said. "He got off his butt and did something."
Signer has learned to do more with his left hand, such as writing, shoveling and hooking up milking machines.
"Farmers deal with difficulties all the time," Signer said, and then he smiled. "We're like 'Little House on the Prairie' (the 1970s television show). There's the farm and the family and faith and rain and drought and snow."
Signer is proud of the fact that he can still climb up and down a 75-foot silo three times a day to check on its contents, which pales in comparison to working out at a gym lifting weights, he said. He's up at 6 a.m. to do paperwork, when his right hand can best pick up paper, before going out to milk at 9 a.m., and then he admits he's a little lazy.
"I compare farming to playing football," he said. "You get banged up by cows, and you get aches and pains and stressed out."
Signer is still not sure if he will have to sell off any of this 70 head of dairy cattle. He still has to take inventory of his feed, and he'll see if his brother will exchange some feed for his manure. Yes, manure is a commodity in farming.
"Oh, that's valuable. You don't ever want to let it run down the creek," he said.
But he has decided to keep on farming as long as possible. Farming, like life, is frustrating, he said.
"Losing loved ones, diseases, tough times. But you have to have hope and a real belief in heaven, and an understanding of the grace of Jesus on the cross," he said. "What else matters here in life?"