Begin With The End In Mind

What do you want to do when you grow up? This question sounds kind of late for most of us doesn't it. It's true, most of us are already grown up and we aren't going back. However we can have an impact on what's ahead. Take five minutes and think about your next five years.

The machinery is being put away for another planting season. Now what? Oh yeah, we'll work at keeping the crops fed and clean, the fence rows sprayed, and the road ditches and waterways mowed.

However as we all know having the crop in is not our end game. It needs scouted to make sure it's growing and free from disease and bugs. Harvest is just four months away. At our house we have a combine and a couple of grain carts that need attention yet.

Then there is marketing. After all the end goal in raising a crop is not just putting it in a bin but making a living and feeding our families. A farmer needs to have a good understanding of what his expenses are, what his breakeven price is, and where the markets need to be for him to be profitable when he sells.

Success in marketing is a lot like playing ball. If you stand at the plate and do nothing you might get lucky and get a walk however chances are you will get called out. A batter needs to be proactive on swinging. So does a marketer. Swinging for the fence can have bad results. Hitting base hits consistently wins ball games. Waiting to sell on the high market day can have bad results. Consistently selling crops when the prices are above breakeven keeps a farmer in the game.

Often a batter will get a good pitch when the pitcher thinks he's behind on balls and strikes. Often a farmer will get a marketing opportunity when the Board of Trade is afraid of the possibility of getting behind on supply due to weather. That opportunity often happens sometime between planting and pollination. Is there a risk in selling a crop that's still growing in the field? Absolutely. There is also a risk in waiting for a home run.

Jan enjoys going to the big green house and nursery plant sales that happen every Memorial Day weekend in Michigan. She asked me to go along and be her chauffeur. We stayed at Pastor Paul and Ellen's house.

Two years ago our church had asked Pastor Paul and Ellen to be our interim pastor in Iowa. They agreed and have spent much of their time in Iowa and have been helping our church out ever since even after Pastor Jon and Keri have come to be our regular pastor. They know the road well between Iowa and Michigan.

While in Michigan we drove by South Christian High School's new building project. We spent a number of years helping dream, plan, purchase, coordinate, and build the new Pella Christian High School campus ten years ago. So we turned around and visited with the job superintendent. They are building a high school for around 700 kids to occupy in December of this year at a cost of close to 40 million dollars. They also are working with in-kind (donated) help.

Tony and Hannah live near Lowell, Michigan around 30 minutes east of Grand Rapids. They are active in the children's ministry at Impact Church, a church of around 1800 members. Hannah is my brother Bill and Julie's daughter. Their son Kingston and I enjoyed hanging out together. I think Kingston must of thought I looked alot like his Papa Bill.

Back to the nursery and greenhouse sales. Nurseries, greenhouses, plants, and landscaping is to western Michigan as corn and soybeans are to Iowa. We spent most of our time in the Grand Rapids and Holland, Michigan area. 

We had a jungle on wheels in the back seat of Jan's pickup. A few of the names I remember Jan purchasing were Honey berry, Frazier furs, Denim and lace, Russian sage, Yellow Dogwood, Iris, Peony, Morning light grass, Clematis, Astilbe, and Northland blueberry.

We stopped at Centre Landscaping in Caledonia, Michigan and visited with Mark and Amy. They have been in this business for three decades and have 30 employees. Their oldest daughter just graduated from Calvin College and is getting married in July. Mark's father, Don Boender, is a retired Dean from Calvin College. Mark used to come to Iowa as a high school kid, visit the farm, and spend time with my brother Doug. Mark has recently been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. Please help us pray for a miracle.

Mark and I have the same great grandparents. Cornelius and Nellie were born and married in Holland in the late 1800s. They had 9 boys and 3 girls all born in the old country. Not the happiest couple I've ever seen. Must have been all the kids. Cornelius was an only child. He helped his father sell eggs and vegetables. One day he was seen kicking a dog and was scheduled to go to court. He came to America instead. Today this couple has over 1300 descendants that live or lived in our country.

We not only grow up some of us will grow old. If we get old will we see ourselves as a dream builder or a dream crusher? Will the folks that come visit us look forward to coming or come out of duty? Will we ask our visitors about their week or just talk about our own? If we don't help and serve and make a difference in others all we get is ourselves and that's an empty and lonely life.  

Not all of us will grow old. On this Memorial Weekend I can think of so many friends, family, and loved ones that were called home early.

 Imagine you are going to a funeral. You get ready. You drive to the cemetery. You join the folks around the grave. You look at the grave stone. It has your birthdate on the left, a dash, and today's date on the right. Good grief. This funeral is yours. Will you be ok? Is it well with your soul? You can't change when you began. You have no control of when you end. It's what you do with that dash that counts.