Change

Wow. How things change in just a month. Spring came early since things were dry and crops went in very smoothly. Our May rains were just enough and in June our yards turned brown.

Our conversations would talk about hoping for cool nights, heavy dews, and higher humidity to keep the crop from looking like pineapple plants. Although the crop was hanging in there the U.S. drought map showed southern Iowa was in an area short of rainfall.

We prayed for rain, and at church we reminded our Pastors to pray for rain. We started wondering how corn pollination would go in normally dry July weather. July came. And it started to rain. At our house, we have received more rain in July than April, May, and June combined. We quickly ask God for help when we have needs. We need to privately and publicly say thank you when He answers.

Remember when I visited with you about watering sweet corn from the pond? Well, we did sweet corn all week and it was a good crop. The hardest part this year in our patch was the picking it off the ground since it blew over.

30 years ago Cargill/Eddyville put up a corn processing plant in our area. Farmers and grain elevators knew it would be a significant change and wondered how everyone would be effected. In 1991 Ray, who was a dairy farmer, started working for Cargill. He became the corn merchant and bought millions of bushels of corn per year for 25 years.

In partnership with Jerry, our friend and landlord, we hosted a retirement open house Friday evening for Ray at our cabin. About a 100 folks came by with well wishes. 

Most of our crop goes to Eddyville at harvest time. Our family will miss Ray and we wonder what the change will look like. We wish Ray, his wife Pat, and their three grown children the best as they start the next part of their lives. Our family has met Brenda, Ray's replacement. We feel positive about the future.

Well, as usual fair week was forecasted to be hot and it was. We were able to watch grandkids show their projects.

Yesterday morning was the annual pancake breakfast for everyone before the 4-H auction.

4-H is good for kids. It teaches them responsibility. It teaches them how to interact with adults. It teaches them bookkeeping and the possibility of profit or loss on a project. It helps families come together as a community. We saw that happen yesterday a couple of times reaching out to folks who had experienced a loss this year.

And now it's over for another year. 4-H boxes, fans, wheel barrows, shovels, campers, and equipment all cleaned up, packed up, and headed home. Another change. Summer is flying by.

We need to take time to enjoy every day and every relationship we have been given while we have the chance. Weeks, months, and seasons fly by and sometimes we get caught up spending a lot of time worrying about things that never happen. And forget to enjoy the now. Because someday, maybe soon, things change.

The second thing I want to remind you and myself is what we concentrate our efforts on. People are so much more important than things and rules. I've yet to see a u-haul trailer heading for the cemetery behind a hearse. Since everything is God's in the first place we need to hang on loosely.

One thing has stayed the same for 6000 years with few exceptions. We come to earth created for a purpose. We live here a few short years. And we leave. Are we fulfilling our purpose? Will we make a difference? How will folks remember us? In all the changes around us God is our steady constant. He continually helps us. And He wants us to say thank you by helping others. Have a good week.