Sunday, July 19, 2015

Life In These United States

I have been reminded this past week what a wonderful country we live in. We as Americans too often take for granted the freedoms and blessings we have.
 This morning I'd just like to share with you a few of those blessings that come to mind.
 We are able to choose our occupations and our economy still allows us to provide for our families.
 We still have the freedom to conduct business as we choose. Below Gary from Albia is talking to us about the possibility of trading planters.
 We as a nation have come so far in feeding not just ourselves but the world. Forty years ago folks said we would run out of food as our population increased. With research and technology we have doubled our ability to grow food. On the right are some leaf blights in competitive susceptible corn hybrids and on the left are healthy leaves from our customers fields that are disease resistant.
Our food is the best and the most reasonable of any other country in the world.
 We can get up on a Sunday morning and have the freedom to share our thoughts in a blog. We can still go to church and worship without interference from government.
 We can still choose to worship and serve our Lord in a traditional or a more contemporary way. Some drive horses to church. Others of us drive vehicles. What a country!
In America parents are still in charge of raising our children in church, in home, at school.
 We have an endless list of sports, entertainment, and leisure activities we can choose to watch or participate in.
 We live in communities that work together. We have neighbors that care about each other. We greet and wave at folks we don't even know.
 When things fall apart or life gets hard we still have the resolve and desire to get up, pick up the pieces, and try again.
Our country is starting the process of electing a leader in November of next year. As you listen to the candidates and their speeches, determine whether they are they trying to sell themselves or whether they feel called to serve their country, their fellow citizens, and their God.
 We live in a country that still has generous people that thinks of others. When Foster and his wife turned 70 they had a birthday party and invited 100 couples. In the invitation was a Bible verse from Galations. The guests were to pick their favorite charity and how that verse related to their charity. Foster promised the winner $70,000 to their charity. As the guests opened their envelopes to see if they had won they discovered he had given every guest's charity the winning amount.
 We have freedom of speech. Often the news media has a bias that tells stories from their point of view. Our job is to educate ourselves on what the actual truth is. 
 Most of the Republican presidential candidates got together in Ames yesterday for a summit. They shared their views and visions with about 3000 people who came to listen.
 Afterwards a few of us got together with Frank, the moderator, Bob, the organizer, and several of the candidates.
 After that we stopped in Urbandale and met a really neat group of folks. There is always a sense of fellowship when God fearing folks get together even though we had never met before. 
Evil hopes to change who we are as a country. As I am finishing this visit this morning and see the sun coming up, I am reminded that no matter what happens in the future We have a hope in our Creator and He wins in the end. God's blessings you this coming week.

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