Your Flying Farmer – Are You Ready for Christmas?

Winter seems to have come early this year. Snowstorms, cars in the ditch, below-zero temps, cold tractors, frozen manure, and air so cold it makes me chilled just thinking about running into the air for a winter flight! I often wonder what the cows are thinking with all this cold and wind. No matter when it happens, it always feels a couple weeks too early.

But didn’t Christmas come a little early this year too? I think so, and the big cardboard cow staring at me agrees (of course it does – I made it). Why do I have a cardboard cow head staring at me? Well, that’s a long story, and we’ve been planning for this cow all year! Last January, my sister, wife, and I volunteered to run the 2025 Sunday school Christmas program.

We started planning in February. Back then, Christmas felt like a lifetime away. Now the program is tomorrow! Oh boy, has this ever been fun. Our church added a new gym and stage, so we get to break it in. The Savior is magnificent, the kids fantastic, the songs wonderful – and that cardboard cow kicks off the show front and center! Our famous cow, Cardboard Bessy (the real one got vetoed), even stars in a couple of lines.

The bully in the play makes fun of the “dork” standing by the cow. But by the end, the only thing that matters is the Savior-King in the manger. “Why would the Savior be born in a manger? Cows eat out of those!” Who is this King? As Isaiah said, He’s “the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” And He’s lying in a manger?

What do you think the real Bessy (2,000 years ago) thought when they moved her aside and turned her home into a DIY maternity ward? I know exactly what she thought: “Mooo, give me back my feed. Why are you lying in my food?”

Isn’t it easy to be like that cow and miss what’s most important? If I ask, “Are you ready for Christmas?” most of us think of to-dos. But take away the presents, parties, decorations, and gatherings – then what’s left to be ready? When you say you love Christmas, what do you mean? While those things are good, being truly ready doesn’t involve any of them.

As the program proclaims, “Christmas can only be found by finding the Savior!”

True readiness is not feelings, baking, gifts, or get-togethers. It’s understanding what God has done for you. Perfect, eternal God became a child – with “the power of death undone.” Emmanuel, God with us! “Behold, the Lamb of God. Your King has come to die!”

If 2,000-year-old Bessy thought beyond her bovine buffet, she’d say, “What? My Creator is giving Himself for … humans?” Exactly. Thirty years later, “Christ died for sin, once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God!” (1 Peter 3:18)

“God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us. So that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Are you ready for Christmas? Trust in Jesus alone for the salvation we all need! Celebrate God’s overwhelming goodness and salvation!

Meet your farmer – Jonathan Gerdes. He and his wife run a farm-to-table raw milk dairy and farm airbnb in Caledonia, Minn. If he isn’t in the barn, you can find him dating his wife, playing with his kids, leading youth group, or flying in the sky. Visit gerdesfreshfarm.com for more info. 

Fresh off the Farm Eggnog

6 large egg yolks

1/3-1/2 cup granulated sugar (we used real maple syrup!) 

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Pinch of salt

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ground cinnamon, for topping

Whipping cream & cinnamon sticks, if desired, for topping

1. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar (or maple syrup) together in a medium bowl until light and creamy.
2. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the cream, milk, nutmeg and salt. Stir often until mixture reaches a simmer. 
3. Add a big spoonful of the hot milk to the egg mixture, whisking vigorously. Repeat, adding a big spoonful at a time, to temper the eggs. 
4. Once most of the hot milk has been added to the eggs, pour the mixture back into the saucepan on the stove. 
5. Whisk constantly for a minute or so, until the mixture is just slightly thickened (or until it reaches about 160º F on a thermometer). It will thicken more as it cools.
6. If you don’t like nutmeg flecks in your drink, pour the eggnog through a fine mesh strainer into a pitcher or other container and cover with plastic wrap. (We skipped this and just drank it right away – hot – and it was SUCH a treat!)
7. Refrigerate until chilled. (we didn’t even try cooling it because my family slurped every last drop up!) But I’ve been told it will thicken as it cools. If you want a thinner, completely smooth consistency, you can add the entire mixture to a blender with 1 or 2 tablespoons of milk and blend until smooth.
8. Serve with a sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg, and fresh whipped cream, if desired. *Don’t skip the finishing touches! My daughter served it with a cinnamon stick sticking out of each cup and it was so fun! 
9. Store homemade eggnog in the fridge for up to one week.