Repurposed

I learned a new word this week. It's different than renewed, restored, or retrofitted. Repurposed means taking something and using it in a different way or for a different job. Forty years ago an IH 1456 was the big horse on the farm. At 175 hp it did all the heavy field work. Today it's used for much smaller and menial jobs. Now tractors two to three times it's size are depended on for the tough pulling. 

In 1975 this building was built as the main storage for machinery on the place Kurt and Emily bought last year west of Leighton. Kurt is repurposing this building from a machine shed to a farm shop and on Monday everyone helped pour concrete.

 Kurt is explaining to his son Jackson that it's still too wet to walk on, and both of them are excited about the new opportunity.

A farm shop serves lots of purposes. It keeps a farmer organized. It helps him get equipment ready when it's too nasty to work outside. It can be a clean and pleasant environment to work in. It's a good place to visit with friends, neighbors, and suppliers when the home can seem a little too personal. But most of all for me it's a place where kids can help their Dads. The more children are valued and given responsibility in their early years, the better their values will be  and their ability to handle life no matter what their purpose is as adults.

BJ has a field with small tile and small terraces. He is clearing a way for a new 8 inch main tile and is going to rebuild the terraces in this field making them bigger, more effective, and more farming friendly.

 Alex is digging set-ins for tile intakes on a rented farm that Mike will soon be building terraces on. When you can get the excessive water after a big rain to run under ground you have much less soil loss due to erosion.

 This story made me think. I walked into McDonald's last Monday morning in Pella to grab a breakfast biscuit and coffee. The waitress rang up the bill and said, "that will be $4.39 and I gave you the senior citizens discount on your coffee". Ouch. I wonder how soon it will be before I'm repurposed, just like that IH 1456 in our first picture.

Early Tuesday morning Jan and I headed for San Antonio, Texas. We drove so we could spend time together and so we could stop at a moments notice and check out the sights, like quilt stores. As many of you probably already know San Antonio has a river running through town. The restaurants and stores all along the river is called the river walk.

 The first day we drove 850 miles to Waco, Texas. Jan found us a motel room on Hotwire shortly before we arrived. I'm sure many of you have heard of Chip and Joanna. They have a TV show where they remodel homes for folks in the Waco area. Chip's favorite thing is demo day and Joanna takes the prize for repurposing. They purchased this old grain elevator that they call silos in Texas and totally made it into a destination that's fun to visit.

They have this huge flat storage grain facility that they call a grain barn and it is full of repurposed items that are for sale. The whole block is called the Magnolia Market at the silos. Thousands of folks come to visit. The visit is free unless you buy something which most folks do including us. Saturdays are usually a two hour wait just to get in. They are closed on Sundays which I think is cool because they are choosing to honor God.

We came to San Antonio for the Commodity Classic. That's a big agricultural trade show that features a floor full of new products, seminars on the latest issues facing farming, entertainment, and speakers that are experts in their field.

 The bigger end of the equipment ranged from 620 hp tractors to 48 row corn planters. There was more technology than I have ever seen. All the crop input suppliers were there. Folks selling drones were everywhere. (A drone is a small model helicopter with a camera that flies 400 feet in the air, controlled from the ground, and sends pictures of crop progress to a smart phone) And my favorite was hundreds of ideas to make a farm shop more organized and efficient.

 The many seminars started early morning and could be found most any time of the day. They ranged from, is profitability in farming possible today, to the many details of growing crops, to marketing, to the perfect farm shop, to passing on the farm to the next generation, to cooking.

 There were a number of concerts sponsored by a number of companies. My favorite was Josh Turner. He grew up in North Carolina where he was in a church quartet. He has been married for 14 years. He and his wife live in Nashville and have four sons. He was not scared to tell folks through his music that he honored God. He wrote a song in 2003 that he and Randy Travis sang called Long Black Train.

My favorite speaker was Randy. Randy lives in Georgia with his wife and kids and raised 531 bushel of corn per acre this year! He also raised 171 bushel of beans per acre. His father is a pastor and so he is a first generation farmer. He takes soil test every year. His soil is very sandy. Since he irrigates he uses fertilizer through the water all season long. He takes tissue test of his crop every Monday checking for sufficient nutrient intake. He insist all corn plants emerge within 24 hours of each other and be evenly spaced without skips or doubles which makes a having a planter in top condition a must. He honored God by giving Him all the credit. He told about how his late mother dedicated him to God and prayed for him every day. He gave others credit for answering all his questions, and is telling his story for the purpose of paying it forward to others.

I heard folks talking bad about Randy while in Texas and found myself thinking what they were saying might be possible. I found out how wrong they were. Have you ever had it get back to you what folks have said about you that isn't true? It hurts doesn't it. I heard so much information and so many good ideas this past week. I have heard it said and I believe it that folks with large minds talk about ideas. Folks with average minds talk about events. Folks with small minds talk about people. Below my friend and neighbor Edgar is showing me his orchids. They were beautiful. 

Last Sunday morning Pastor Paul talked and showed the Cadets how natural it is to get tied up with wrong in our lives. He wrapped Ethan and Cody with grey tape as a demonstration of how wrong and sin hinder us. When we ask God for help with that wrong and ask Him to be in charge He repurposes us for what He created us to do. He reminds us not to use destructive words about others. He helps us become a gatekeeper about keeping out negative thoughts and labels. Honoring God as those folks in my earlier stories did leads to significant lives.

Since we hope to head north early tomorrow morning I am sharing this on a Saturday night. Jan and I participated in a church service this evening with around 90 other folks. The service was planned by the Fellowship of Christian Farmers at the trade show sight. Have you ever been to church with folks you didn't know and felt a bond? It's a blessing. Have a good week.