Making A Difference

Raising kids has it's challenges. It also has it's rewards. A parent's challenge is to raise their children to be in a relationship with God, to have the ability to handle responsibility, to make a difference in other's lives, and be generous. A parent's reward is to watch your children raise their children with those same values. Malaki, Jackson, and Harris are cousins that hang out together at Grandma's house on Mondays. They play. They do jobs for Grandma. They learn to share.

Sharing doesn't come automatic with kids or grownups. It is not something we are born with. It is an attribute that must be learned. Jayden is not a happy camper about Grandma having cousin Hazel share his car with him. Hazel's face says, "Grandma, don't just stand there taking our picture. Fix this uncomfortable situation". :)

Last evening Jan helped prepare the meal for the Christmas Banquet at PCHS. She hunted up and took a picture of grandsons and cousins, Cody, Gideon, and Ethan.

We have been tankering hog manure for others pretty steady for about a month now. We load at the hog shed and haul it to the honey wagon sometimes several miles. Hog honey definitely makes a difference on those back forties that don't usually get manure because of the time it used to take to drive a manure spreader that far with a tractor.

Tiling is one of the most important things a producer can do to make a difference in making a farm more productive. BJ is pattern tiling on the north edge of Ottumwa for a landowner we custom farm for.

With proper moisture and God's blessing corn yields have grown considerably over the last decade. Soybean yields however have been a little slower coming until the last couple of years. We have traditionally said that beans are forgiving while you never want corn to have a bad day. While that is true we are learning that giving attention to soybeans like corn has improved yields. Some little things we are doing to make a difference in bean yields are less planting population, treating the seed, early planting, placing the seed in the soil a touch deeper than we are used to, hog honey or fertilizer on acres going to beans like we are doing below, spraying twice for weeds and a third time for disease, bugs, and foliar feeding additional liquid fertilizer, and finally timely harvest with a draper grainhead.

Last Sunday afternoon we were invited to visit an old farmstead our friend and fellow farmer Steve had bought.

Although the buildings have been unused for fifty years and unproductive they are full of history of how things were when they were built in the early 1900s. We explored a horse barn, a cattle barn, an ear corn crib, a home, an outhouse, a summer kitchen, and a smokehouse, and a cave. Our son Mark is helping Steve and Sherwin make things more productive and usable with his trackhoe. Thanks Steve for showing us around and sharing your afternoon with us. 

Ruth has been making a difference teaching kindergarten at Osky Christian for as many years as I can remember. Below she is pictured with her students and our granddaughters, Allison and Natalie, and her granddaughter, Kwynn. Ruth is Harold's wife and Kwynn is Joel's daughter who Mike has been dozing for this fall.

Kutos to the committee who has been diligent in following the school board's direction, meeting, gathering information, visiting other schools, and trying to get VoAg and FFA started at PCHS. Education is changing these days with more and more hands on learning and interim experiences at the work place as kids start in high school are already preparing for college by getting credits.

I was an FFA member 45 years ago my freshman and sophomore years at North Mahaska High School. VoAg and FFA aren't just book and experience learning. They make a difference in kids lives with leadership and relationships. Change doesn't come easy. Mark Twain once said not to let school get in the way of education.

Well we had our post harvest supper this past Friday evening. As usual Jan prepared and served an unbelievable meal. We enjoyed spending the evening together in a non work environment.

These folks make a difference in my and our families lives. We not only get a ton of work done, they are all friends. A number of them have other jobs. Thanks Andy, Matt, Pablo, Alex, Kasey, Linda, as well as Jim and Ryan who were unable to attend. I have had countless conversations with folks you interacted with that told me how helpful and courteous you were to work with. 

Often our days don't go as planned like this one last July. That's when you need someone that can make a difference.

Denny was one of those folks we called when we had a job bigger than us. Denny was truly dedicated to his business at Bill and Rays and was especially good at running the wreckers. Denny passed away unexpectedly at 63 years old. He will be missed. His funeral was this past Friday morning. I only knew Denny as a business friend however it was evident that he loved his work. He loved people. And he loved his Lord.

One Saturday night a year ago we got our Cat combine really stuck. We couldn't get it pulled out with a dozer. We even tried to dig it out with a track hoe. We finally called Denny. He hooked the first set of cables to the front axle and a second set to the rear one. Just before midnight he got us pulled out in one piece. We promise to keep the Bill and Rays crew in our prayers. They were scheduled to have a Christmas party at our cabin and had to cancel because of their great loss.

Are you making a difference? Ephesians 2:10 says that "God created us for a life of good deeds which He has already prepared for us to do". Our ministry and service is to honor God by making a difference in other's lives. Last week we talked about at the end of the day saying, "Today is enough". Make part of that enough being a blessing to someone by sharing your time.