Graceful Giving

What kind of person would you like to be when you get old? What's important to you now? 

When you think about what's important in the Bible it mentions "believing" 233 times. It talks about "praying" 345 times. It talks about "love" 640 times. The Bible mentions "giving" 1536 times.

Elijah graduated from Kindergarten this past week. He was to wear something he wanted to be. He told his Mom he wanted to go in a Cat combine. Way to go Stacy!

We had another good week of wrapping up some jobs and starting others. Our family couldn't do it without our helpers who make us a complete team. Brad and Julie and their girls live close. Brad helps out as well as has ground of his own.  

Alex can plant, spray, apply NH3, truck, or do just about anything else. He is BJs go to guy when tiling as well. Alex is just starting to rent his own land.

Dan and Cindy are neighbors. Dan is retired and helps out part time tendering the sprayers. He can fix anything.

Pablo and Paula just live down the road with their girls. Pablo has a full time job at Cargill and helps out a couple of times a week. Paula and the girls help clean. I appreciate their friendship.

Matt and Becka have a busy family with four children. They moved back to Iowa from Colorado a few years ago. Matt has a knack for figuring things out. It's been a blessing having him help out a couple times a week and getting to know them.

Linda has helped out with the books and kept the bills paid for years now. Her and her husband Kevin are also neighbors. I appreciate all our helpers giving attitude.

We have our custom planting pretty well wrapped up. Friday night I brought Brad and BJ soybeans. If you look close in the horizon you can see the lights to "Golfing under the Stars" outing Musco was putting on.

Kurt and Karl have been spraying and are busy on second pass corn.

 It's also time to get the second pass nitrogen on the corn crop.

Graceful giving happens in family. Parents providing for, raising, and protecting their young children. Children learning to help out. The graceful part describes an easy openness, a way of life, not expecting something in return.

In order to be a giver their needs to be a receiver. Everything we have and are God gave to us. He asks us to follow his example by giving to others. 

Graceful giving also happens in community. It involves not keeping score and hanging on loosely to what we think is ours. Most folks think a person is blest and then he gives. That is so backwards. He gives in gratitude for what he has been given and then he is blest.

This weekend we are remembering. How do you want folks to remember you? When we shovel out God shovels back and God has a bigger shovel.

"Bring the whole tithe... Test me in this, says the Lord, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it....Then all the nations will call you blessed, and yours will be a delightful land." Malachi 3:10-12