Sunday, March 26, 2017

Unity vs Uniformity

I read some discussion questions written by my son-in-law that got me thinking this week. Our families, our friends, our co-workers, even the non profit charities we support, have such different looks, different personalities, different abilities.
Our crew here on the farm are different ages. We cover three generations. We drive different brands of trucks. We have multi colored machinery. Our jobs are more diverse than most farms. We recognize, accept, and even celebrate our differences. However together, we all pull in the same direction. We are unified in our purpose, mission, and goals.
Mike rented farm ground for a little while after he got out of the Marines. However his love was pushing dirt. I encouraged him to buy his own dozer. His first job with it was volunteering his time and equipment working on the new Pella Chr. High campus a dozen years ago. He was a key part in the construction of the football field. Today he coaches on that field and next year his son will play on it. That's God blessing diversity.
I was the job rover this week and worked beside Mike one day building terraces.
Karl and I took turns running the drill seeding down 4 or 5 different projects this past week.
When Kurt had obligations to attend I covered for him, and would help Alex with NH3. We have just a couple of jobs left and we can unhook the toolbars and get ready to plant when the weather dries and warms up.
When Andy had his tax appointment I hauled anhydrous from different locations to the field. This is hauling out of Hedrick with Jim and his crew loading us. Jim's location is not uniform with other locations. His office is a warm box with two recliner chairs, some paraphernalia on the walls, and a scale. However his unity in getting our work accomplished is unmatched. He doesn't keep score and he cares about the folks he works with, doing everything in his power to keep folks running.
Karl, Matt, Pablo, and I set up the seed treater and we started to treat seed this week. We have gotten a good start on staging and delivering seed.
Since yesterday was a rainy day we worked inside. Ryan is getting Jan's lawnmower ready for hopefully another busy summer. If the mower stays busy that means we will be getting rain which we depend on for growing crops.
Jackson was over yesterday so I put him to work. I told him he was to spread oil dry over the wet spots in the shop.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone of you that join this visit every week. I wish I could post a pic of you all. You are a diverse group. You are different ages. You have different jobs. You live so many different places. There is very little uniformity in this group. However we get together once a week to catch up. You make my day every time you mention a story we share. I thank God for the wide variety of friends I have.
At our Sunday service last Sunday Chris and Cheryl visited. They shared with us how Joshua Christian Academy, an inner city Christian School in east Des Moines is instructing and affecting a diverse group of mostly minority kids. Does JCA look like the Christian schools were used to? No. Even though they require families to help cover education costs based on ability 90% of their budget needs to be raised through donations by others. However we are unified and have the same goals when it comes to getting kids an education that includes God and the Bible.  
Jan and I have the privilege of supporting a class and last spring those kids came to our place for a farm visit. Notice the little guy on the right has my hat on. The young man in the back is Jae Marc and was featured on Little Big Shots on NBC about a year ago.  If JCA is intriguing to you and you would like to know more about them Jan and I would love to have you join us at their annual banquet on Friday, April 7. 
Last evening a group of over 500 folks got together for supper and a benefit auction for the Total Outdoorsman group. Their mission is to use the outdoors through hunting, fishing, etc. to create relationships so they can share with others about God's redemption and love. Not your cookie cutter way of reaching out to folks however very unified in a common purpose.
The speaker, Kyle, did a great job of sharing a turnaround in his life. The auction items ranged from coolers, guns, fishing trips, hunting expeditions, hogs and processing, and a Labrador puppy. Glad you got your puppy bought Mellissa.
Our interim Pastor Paul has been talking to us how unity looks in church. Last Sunday he talked about the older brother in the story of the prodigal son. The older brother wasn't very happy about his father taking back his younger brother and giving him a lavish party. He thought he should have been the one getting the party because he stayed home and kept all the rules. Believe it or not, keeping all the rules has nothing to do with getting close to God. Pastor and Ellen are leaving us for a while. Enjoy your trip to Greece guys.
"I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day. I'd rather you walk with me than merely point the way. The messages I hear are very wise and true. But I'd rather get my lesson by observing what you do. I may not understand all the advice that you give. But there's no misunderstanding how you act and how you live." Friends, we are a diverse bunch. However we have a common thread. Live purposely. Live sacrificially. Live joyfully.


 

1 comment:

Tulip Grandma said...

Thanks Steve, for reminding us that even though we sometimes see various issues differently as long as we have a common purpose to praise and glorify our Lord someday we will be walking the streets of gold together.