StillWatersIowa

General And Random Valentines

2012-02-11T20:21:00.000-08:00

Do you remember way back when in grade school when your classmates used to hand out valentine cards? Some kids would bring enough for the whole class. Others would just give them to their close friends. There really wasn't anything romantic about it but it made both the kids giving and receiving them feel special.

Well the following pictures and stories are just a few of the people that touched my life this week. Some are general and our paths cross all the time. Others are random and we only see occasionally.

We spent much of the week cleaning up a farm along Hwy 92. Thanks Kristin, for bringing us lunch on Friday.

It was a fun week and we enjoyed working together. A warm fire always feels good on a cold day during a break in the action.

Earlier in the month we spent a morning at the Iowa Power and Machinery Show. We usually invite the help and any grand kids that want to just take some time off, look at the latest machinery, and visit with friends. I enjoy the grand kids reaction to all the stuff displayed but have to admit sometimes keeping them in check is like herding cats.

This was a good week for Rick winning three different state caucuses in the GOP presidential primaries. It's a blessing for our families to be friends. Congratulations Rick and thanks for your courage in being a conservative voice.

It always feels special when someone reads you a book. Happy Birthday Anton.

This young man is the grandson of my cousin Glenda and the son of Jon and Tammy. He is Iowa City fighting brain cancer. TJ, we are thinking about you and praying for you and your parents.

"Make it your goal to live a quiet life, to work with you hands, and to mind your own business. So that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders, and you will not be dependant on anyone." 1Thes. 4:11-12.

Our purpose is to live each day caring about each other, sometimes just everyday life in general, and occasionally when God randomly asks us to be somebody special to someone else. One more thing. Happy Valentines Day Jan. This sunset by Karl and Kristin's house is your card.

A Surprising Verdict

2012-02-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

It's interesting how life's path crosses the same intersection at different stages of our time down here on earth. For the last couple of months I have been on a jury pool that has to call in every week to see if there are any trials.

Two weeks ago we were called in and I was selected to serve as a juror for a day long trial. This past week we were again called in as a jury pool. The prosecuting and defense attorneys were to pick a jury for a week long trial.

The defendant was a sitting county supervisor and the trial centered on whether or not his wife should be on a family health insurance plan. He was being accused of three crimes.

When selecting a jury the attorneys ask the folks in the jury pool specific questions to try an get an unbiased group of 12 individuals. I was asked about raising children, if they had boundaries, and if they ever crossed those boundaries.

I was also asked if we had twins and if we treated them both equally.

When asked about determining guilt or innocence in crossing boundaries I wanted to say we took into consideration whether or not the accuser had an agenda but didn't dare bring that up.

I was excused as a potential juror. The trial lasted all week. Although looking back I think the defendant would have done things differently. I do not think he was guilty of 1st degree theft beyond a reasonable doubt, his most serious of the three accusations.

After a short deliberation on Friday the selected jury found the defendant guilty of all three accusations.

Deciding guilt or innocence is a tough job as a parent or a juror. I am not totally convinced the verdict was correct but admit I was not present during the testimony. I would like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Allsup of Oskynews.org for keeping me up to date throughout the trial.

A Broken Vase

2012-01-29T05:59:00.000-08:00

A story is told about a storekeeper who had a vase broken in many pieces.

The storekeeper put the vase all back together and sat it in his window.

However when people passed by all they saw were the cracks between the broken pieces of the vase.

So the storekeeper lit a candle and put it inside the cracked vase.

Everyone remarked how bright the vase looked as the light shone through the cracks.

When people watch us do they just see our scars and dark cracks or do they see Christ's light and love shining through those cracks.

When Jesus was asked if He was for real He quoted Isaiah 61 which says, The Lord has annointed me to preach good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. That's the light we are to share.

Watching Life

2012-01-22T06:25:00.000-08:00

I think winter is finally here to stay. You know it's about time to call it a year in Iowa when your work involves diesel fuel additive, either, jumper cables, and stocking hats.

Anton likes climbing on things in the shop. He gets a kick out of Grandpa telling him to be careful all the time.

Elliott and Zach are all bundled up and dressed for the weather. They enjoy being outdoors. One small drawback of bundled up grand kids helping is when they say, I got to go potty. Grandpa usually says, are you sure?

Years ago I told you it was a transition becoming a grandparent. Well I want you to know it's a bigger transition realizing your grand kids are growing up. Rachael is becoming a young lady.

Amelia is not far behind. I hope they don't think I'm as old as I thought my grandparents were when I was their age.

Speaking of old in a nice way we celebrated a combined Christmas/Birthday get together last Sunday. Jan's father turned 89 and is here with his three children.

Grandpa Gene has a set of twins from each of his children. His oldest, Donna has a set of granddaughters from Seth and Jenny. Kurt and Karl who most of you know are twin sons of Jan. Finally Paul has a set of granddaughters from Levi and Meagan.

Great grandpa Gene always gets the same thing for his birthday, chocolatecovered cherrys and a hitch pin. Remember about a month ago when I told you that as a young son-in-law I thought I would get him a really nice insulated coverall for Christmas and he didn't know what it was for? Well we have gotten him a hitch pin just about every year since and he loves it.

After a hard week of dozing in the cold without a cab, a delicious birthday meal, and a warm fireplace, Mike enjoys a Sunday afternoon nap.

One more thing. Happy Birthday BJ. I couldn't find an appropriate picture. I hope you guys are having fun snowmobiling and are staying warm and safe.

Transitioning Seasons

2012-01-14T15:05:00.000-08:00

"For everything there is a season and a time for every activity under heaven." Eccl. 3:1

God has determined time and seasons for man to accomplish his purposes.

God does not condemn but approves of the use of earthly blessings. He also gives us the responsibility of being good stewards of the blessings we use.

Amidst the instability of our culture there is comfort in God's timing and purpose of our changing seasons. We are promised there will always be seed time and harvest even for future generations.

I have always enjoyed those future generations, earlier our children, and now our grandchildren, interacting, helping, and being part of our operation.

Of course work would get monotonous and burdensome if that's all we consisted of and strived for. In farming the changing seasons give us different responsibilities and even allow us some occasional down time.

A snowfall can be a beautiful thing until you have to move it. Below Ethan is helping Grandpa clear Grandma's driveway.

We started the week with warm, dry weather. Our days were full of projects. We finished the week cold and snowy. We suddenly had more discretionary time to enjoy each others company. There are still plenty of shop jobs, grain hauling, and planning for the next crop however times are more relaxing. Thank God for changing seasons.

Taking advantage of a slower season to spend time with people you love helps affirm the next generation and lets them know they are more important than projects.

Game On

2012-01-08T05:57:00.000-08:00

It has been an eventful winter for our family. With the older grand kids still on Christmas break last week Monday, Jan had her hands full trying to keep the bigger kids from running over the smaller ones. All the cousins love to play together. What a blessing having them all live close enough to watch them grow up.

Since it has been such a warm, dry winter the dozers, tiler, and track hoe are still busy and late this past week we started putting on NH3 again and even leveled off some ground for spring planting.

Last Tuesday evening we met with our neighbors in the county shop to discuss who should be our next president. I was encouraged by the 150 folks that took the time to get together. Karl wrote and read in his own words why he thought Rick Santorum would be a good candidate.

After the caucuses Jan and I, Kristin and Karl, and Becky and Brian went to Des Moines to congratulate the Santorums. Rick started his speech giving a tribute to his wife, Karen. She is an author, a nurse, and a lawyer, but chooses to say home and raise their family and be a mom to their 7 children.

Elizebeth, Sarah Marie, and Sec of State, Matt Shultz are on Rick's left side. Karen and either Peter or Patrick are on his right side. Rick talked about his grandfather immigrating to Pennsylvania, working for 5 years in the coal mine, and then bringing his father here at 7 years old. He said that's why he chose that little western Pennsylvania town to announce his candidacy. I still remember where I was standing in the seed shed the first time he called and invited me to the announcement. Even though it would have been a long drive and we were busy in the field, I regret not going.

We met the Santorum family in the hotel lobby after a very late supper to say our good byes and to give them a couple of gifts that represented Rick's hard work in Iowa and God's guideance and protection to Him and his family.

We also put together some pictures of their 8 day stay in the cabin on our farm.

What a blessing it has been to get to know and become friends with such a fine Christian family. Rick has said from the beginning he doesn't know what the future holds, but he does know God has called him to be a voice in this process.

This is Allison Grace. She was born Thursday and joins her parents, Mark and Stacy, and her four brothers and sister. You might be thinking, why is Allison at the end of your story. Well, she and her cousins that began this story are some of the main reasons for this story.

Several folks have shared that it is uncharecteristic of me to be involved in the political process and I agree I've not given it much time in the past. Our forefathers made things happen. We as current generations are watching things happen. And if we continue as a country on the path we are on our grandchildren will wonder what happened. I strongly believe if we as a country don't change our course, 2012 will be our last free election. History proves it. I don't want Allison and her cousins to come to me someday and say Grandpa, why didn't you try and save our freedoms. God, please bless America.

For Such A Time As This

2012-01-01T06:07:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2012. I hope you are looking forward to facing the opportunities as well as the challenges the new year has in store.

God won't be asking us to take on projects that are bigger than we are. However He does want us to be courageous and face our new year with a purpose.

God does want us to recognize the abilities and gifts He has given us. When we are given the opportunity He expects us to load up our resources and help make things happen with His guidance and help.

Many of our jobs for 2012 will be as close as our own families and be the same things we did in 2011.

Many of our responsibilities will involve helping and serving each other. The jobs of going to work, washing clothes, cleaning house, and making meals happen every day without people watching or sometimes even noticing.

There will be days when we get up and feel like conquering every project in our path. There will also be days when our jobs look like a big pile of rocks that we are not sure how to get over.

Many of the jobs we do this year will make us feel productive and give us a since of accomplishment. Other challenges however may make us feel trapped with no apparent way out.

When we come to the edge of those projects that are bigger than we can handle it's OK to ask for advice and sometimes even help.

Approach 2012 with the attitude that whether you are serving your country, working for others, or serving your family, God has called you to be a voice for Him. Be courageous, and face the new year God has given you with purpose for He has not given you a spirit of fear, but a spirit of love and sound mind.

Esther 3:14 says,"And who knows but that you have come for such a time as this." God has plans for all of us in 2012. Happy New Year everyone.

Celebrating Christmas With One A Chord

2011-12-25T06:22:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone. Today we celebrate God's gift to us. We do that in a variety of ways. We give each other gifts. We enjoy watching the excitement and anticipation of our children and grandchildren as they do their programs and open their presents.

We all have our different traditions. Earlier this week we were invited for lunch at Pablo and Paula's house made by Paula's mother visiting from Jamaica. We started with a Christmas drink made from flower pedals. The main course was ox tail, curry chicken, and scampi. It was spicy enough to make you perspire. It was tasty. You just had to remember to take little bites. We finished with dessert and coffee with rum and brown sugar added.

Harmony among family and friends is one gift I am so thankful for. Working and playing together with each other's interest in mind is priceless.

This past Friday evening we celebrated Christmas as a family. Jan had an unbelievable meal. Mike made a video of the past year in review. Kristin helped me with a gift for Jan. The girls made a photo book for Jan and I and also gave us each monogrammed jackets. As a dad, to be able to be friends with a daughter and five daughter-in-laws is a gift I will always cherish.

Of course Christmas gettogethers wouldn't be complete without watching the excitement of grandkids opening presents.

And then there is the annual pajama picture where all the kids show off their new Pj's given by Grandma Jan every year. I'm thinking this tradition might be about over for some of the older boys

Jan and I along with friends, Jay and Diane, attended Christmas Eve services at The Bridge, a church plant in Ottumwa. Wow, It was packed. As I observed the audience and listened to the message I was reminded not everyone has the gift of family and all of us experience difficult situations from time to time.

The Gift we celebrate today is the help and comfort to our difficult situations. That Gift changes everything. How are we to respond to that Gift? I think the first thing we do is to accept the Gift and ask Christ of Christmas to help us with the difficult whys and what ifs. I think the next thing we do is to say thank you by sharing the Gift by word and example. That is the true spirit to our holiday tradition.

Twas The Week Before Christmas

2011-12-17T19:31:00.000-08:00

Twas the week before Christmas and all through our house, no one was remembering it was the birthday of my spouse. So I hurried to the office, my mind was in a fog, thinking of best wishes, as I write my blog.

I met Jan about thirty eight birthdays ago. I don't remember her birthday however I do remember the first Christmas I spent with her and her family while we were dating. I wanted to make a good impression on her father so I bought him a really nice insulated coverall. Well, being a bibbed overall kind of guy he opened his present and said, "what in the world are these for."

Sixteen birthdays later we had six kids. All eight of us kind of grew up together. With seven to take care of it's no wonder Jan learned how to be such a good cook and a great babysitter.

It's a blessing to have all six children and their spouses living in the area. As you can see in the picture Jan still cooks for all of them once in a while.

If you know Jan very well at all you know she also enjoys flowers, yardwork, and gardening. Here her and her sister Donna are checking out the vegtables in the garden.

Jan mentioned once she would like to have a pond for her 50th birthday. In 2005 we built our pond. It took four outfits ten days and 2300 gallon of diesel fuel.

We used to use Marvin and Carol's cabin near Leighton for family gettogethers. Jan always enjoyed visiting there and said someday she would like to build a cabin we could share. In 2009 we had our cabin built and it has truely been a blessing. Jan hosts guests at least twice a week. This weekly blog was started to keep our guests in touch.

Jan babysits grandkids on Mondays. She still cooks partime at PCHS and served the annual Christmas Banquet last evening.

Jan enjoys traveling. We probably don't go places often enough but we try and get away as a couple for a week in the winter and sometimes a family vacation in the summer. We were in Kilgore, Texas a year ago for a nephew's wedding.

Sometimes it seems so long ago that we started life together. Other times we can't imagine how the time has flown by. Which ever the case we have been blessed beyond measure. Happy Birthday Sweetheart. She told me once she wasn't a sweetheart because sweethearts don't mow yards.

"He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord." Proverbs 18:22

Made In America

2011-12-11T06:04:00.000-08:00

Most of us reading this blog have been made in America. We were born here and our parents had the freedom to raise us with their values, showed us how to handle responsibility through work, and taught us the importance of being a citizen with character. Abraham Lincoln once said, "Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it. The tree is the real thing."

Now we are the adults. Many of us have raised, are raising, or may raise our families in this wonderful country. There have been a few obstacles, ruts, and mud holes on our road through life however for the most part we have been blessed to the point of being a privileged generation.

I realize our country is struggling economically. As a society we have promised everyone, everything. That is why we now have more people riding the government wagon and fewer people pushing it. The folks riding feel society owes them a living.

The folks that are pushing the wagon are getting tired. They are the ones with the strength and the resources however the government keeps asking for more while making rules about how they can and cannot push.

The economics of America are our privileges. The values of America are our principles. When we as a country load our privileges ahead of our principles we become a self centered society. George Washington said, "Few people have the virtue to withstand the highest bidder."

Next year we as Americans have the responsibility of electing someone to lead the most powerful country in the world. It will not be an easy job. Abraham Lincoln once said, "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

In just three weeks we as Iowans have the responsibility to start the presidential election process. Will we look at our privileges and economics and what is in it for us or will we think about the principles and values we were blessed to be raised in?

Last evening my daughter Becky and I accepted an invitation to the presidential candidate debate in a small auditorium on the Drake College Campus. As Iowans being first in the nation in this process we get to choose candidates. We don't have to follow polls. Will we choose economics and privileges or values and principles?

Ronald Reagan said "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children and grandchildren in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed over for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our grand kids what it was once like in America when men were free."

Together

2011-12-04T06:47:00.000-08:00

Most folks were made to enjoy hanging out together. God created us all with different personalities. However our personalities are designed to interact with each other. Just wandering around in a group with no purpose hoping the water doesn't freeze doesn't cut it.

We learn at an early age it feels good to give, receive, and share. (In Atalie and Michael's case they are sharing their Thanksgiving snacks.) Giving, receiving, and sharing develops relationships.

As we grow up and continue those relationships we start to care about each other.Relationships are the glue and caring is the purpose that motivates us to have a plan to make a life rather than just wandering around like geece hoping things don't freeze in around us. Below Mark, Becky, and Kurt are watching Mike try his hand at a game called Angry Birds. I think the younger generation actually just renamed Pac-Man.

Relationships and caring about each other and the people they work for are absolute musts for a family that works together in the custom work business.With winter looming closer our outfits were able to get home and work on our own NH3 acres Friday evening.

When we get rained out or froze out from fieldwork it's always enjoyable to share and listen to each others stories over morning coffee before we go out and fix the stuff we broke or clean up the stuff that got dirty.

Relationships shouldn't always be about work and togetherness doesn't always mean with the same folks. Indivigual families need and benifit from being together independantly and in this case this bunch of got-it-together girls are going to spend a well deserved weekend together without their husbands or kids. All of you will never know how much I appreciate you.

It says in Genesis that it is not good for man to be alone. (I'm not talking about the previous picture but with several of the grandkids helping out Saturday in the rain I tend to agree with Him.) So God designed marriage so we can have someone to love and care about for the rest of our lives. Thank you God for our spouses. The goodlooking couple below got married yesterday in our cabin.

For years there was a group of us that were friends in school together. That relationship continued after we all got married. Several of our kids are the same age and grew up together. Now we are all getting gray together and are empty nestors. Since Duane and Sue moved to a new nest in Pleasant Hill, Jay and Diane, and Jan and I, went up to see their new home. Thanks for a wonderful supper. Thanks for all your friendships. And Sue, you are still the greatest at making Dutch Letters.

"Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:38

Thankful For Grace

2011-11-24T03:50:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving week is generally figured to be the end of fall. Any nice weather in December is considered a gift. So much of our week was spent getting things home, cleaned up, and put away for winter. On a different note I was sent a cute poem that I'm sharing with you this week that's meant to be entertaining. It does share the truth of the undeserved gift offered to us. Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving.

"I was shocked, confused, bewildered, as I entered Heaven's door. Not by the beauty of it all, nor the lights,or it's decor."

"But it was the folks in Heaven who made me sputter and gasp. The thieves, the liars, the sinners, the alcoholics, and the trash."

"There stood the kid from seventh grade who swiped my lunch money twice. Next to him was my old neighbor who never said anything nice."

"Bob, who I always thought was rotting away in hell, was sitting pretty on cloud nine, looking incredibly well."

"I nudged Jesus, what's the deal? I would love to hear your take. How'd all these sinners get up here? God you've made a mistake. And why is everyone so quiet, so somber, give me a clue? Hush child, He said, they're all in shock. No one thought they'd see you."

www.=Who Will Win.

2011-11-20T06:36:00.000-08:00

One of the favorite things our grand kids like to do when they come over is to race their toys in the garage. Of course after a while it gets boring to just ride on a level floor so they generally try and find something to ride over. Well since Grandma Jan isn't crazy about boards and boxes getting pulled from their places she decided to build them a ramp. Since Jan babysits every Monday tomorrow will be the inaugural race day.

For the last 2 or 3 summers I've lost the battle in trying to keep the hill water off of our bottom. So during my spare time between field work and seed corn selling I tried to make more room for the water to run.

I mentioned last week we got a new pup. She is getting used to her new home and is fast learning who her friends are and who her enemies are.

Friday evening the Oskaloosa Chr. Grade School presented their annual fall music program. Six of our grand kids were in the program. Their theme was be a hero by being a hero for God, a winning combination.

One of the benefits of helping out during the Family Leader's Presidential Forum was seeing what goes on behind the scenes. Speaking of scenes in the presidential reception room there was a guy painting caricatures of every candidate that participated last evening. He was unbelievably good.

Here Frank Luntz, the forum moderator for the event, is telling the six candidates that participated what to expect. The purpose of the forum was to help enlighten the voters. Santorum, Bachmann, Gingrich, Perry, Cain, and Paul all shared their worldview and their faith. Romney chose not to participate.

I also attended a Truth Project reunion where Del Tackett visited and shared what's next. His next video series is called Truth Encounter. It talks about taking the first series content, the truth of seeing and knowing who God is, and applying that truth in our everyday lives by being an awesome neighbor.

Whether it's our families, our careers, politics, or our faith walk, we know God is in control and wins in the end. Speaking of the end did you ever look up in the clouds as a kid and wonder what Christ second coming will be like? I did and still do when I see clouds highlighted by a beautiful sunset.

"Behold He comes, riding on the clouds, shining like the sun at the trumpet's call. So lift your voice, it's the year of Jubilee, out of Zion's hill salvation comes."

Extracurricular Activities

2011-11-12T20:07:00.000-08:00

This weeks photos are family activities that are different than just run of the mill farming. Below Mike is posing by the deer he shot with his bow. The antlers scored a 148.

After two years without a dog we decided to get another Saint. We have had Saint Bernards most our farming life. Kinze was the name picked over coffee one morning. Kinze is a female and was 1/2 price because she has overgrown puppyhood and is in that clumsy stage.

Jan had a harvest breakfast for our family plus all those that helped us during the fall season. Here Mike is helping with pancakes, BJ is helping with eggs, and Karl is helping with fruit.

Here the girls are either catching up on the latest news or talking about their husbands. All good of course.

Jan is helping the grandkids load their plates with scrambled eggs, fried eggs, toast, muffins, pancakes, hash browns, sausage, bacon, fruit, cinnimon rolls, chocolate milk, white milk, and orange juice.

Cody is warming up by the fireplace while breakfast is being prepared.

Anton and Elijah are warming up Grandpa's favorite way, in front of the Knipco heater.

This picture was taken on a Sunday afternoon 4-wheeler ride. It was just too nice to take a nap.

"My goal is that they will be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have full confidence because of their understanding of God's plan, which is Christ himself." Colossians 2:2

Getting To Know Him

2011-11-06T04:39:00.000-08:00

One of the many perks of our occupation is allowing kids to help, spend time with, and get to know their Dads. It takes effort on the Dads part but the benefits of teaching them responsibility and affirming them are well worth it.

During our busy schedules do we take the time to get to know or offer to help our neighbors who we are not as acquainted with or who are on the fringes?

While we work for others we need to do our best with a pleasant attitude even if the folks we are working for are ungrateful and grouchy.

Even if our schedules are hectic do we take the time to be a friend to the less fortunate?

As Americans we have an obligation to get to know the people who want to represent us in government. Many folks today say politics isn't their thing. It wasn't mine either but if we as a country continue to put our privileges ahead of our principles we will lose both and 2012 will be our last free election.

Do you have a dedicated place where you can go to pray, to thank, to petition, to think, and just get to know yourself and to reinforce what your goals and purposes are?

Others watch our places, our families, our efforts, and our relationships as they try and get to know us. What are they seeing?

As folks watch us hopefully they will see the light and example of Jesus in our lives. We are not perfect and we are going to goof up but with HIS help, if we continue to try, that light and example will shine through and help light the way for others to get to know HIM.

Are You Kidding Me?

2011-10-29T20:53:00.000-07:00

We have had some beautiful evenings and pretty sunsets this fall. A couple of nighttime freezes have taken care of the bugs and the weeds. We are experiencing my favorite time of year, Indian Summer. Harvest is wrapped up for the most part and the weather is allowing us to do all those other jobs. Since this week's pictures of our activities are pretty well self explanatory I'm going to share an embarrassing story with you that is totally unrelated to all but the last picture.

Earlier this week the William Penn University Board of Directors used our cabin for an all day meeting. Jan worked with Sherri and Jeanie the day before to help with arrangements.

Jan had plans for the day of their event so around 5 pm as most folks were leaving I thought maybe I had better check in and ask if Sherri needed anything. About a dozen folks or so were still visiting and Sherri said to me "I would like you to meet Tommy."

Tommy and his wife were very cordial and we talked about their ranch in Oklahoma and our families. While we were visiting someone asked us if they could take our picture. I was quite sure they weren't taking it because of the cabin host but I still didn't know who I was talking to.

Someone called for the general and the gentleman stepped away. I asked his wife if her husband had served in the military and she assured me he had.

Next I asked her how folks from Oklahoma were associated with Penn College and she said she and her husband were friends with Joe and Jeanie and often flew internationally together. Well Joe is the primary owner of Musco Lighting and I had never met him before either so Mrs. Tommy takes me over and introduces me to Joe.

After introductions and some conversation I told Joe I had met his friends from Oklahoma but had missed their names and asked who they were. He said "That's General Tommy Franks. He was Commander and Chief for all US troops after 9/11. He was in charge of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq."

Wow. All I remember saying was, "Are you kidding me?" I'm sure everyone there had to think I was the most naive redneck on earth. What a privilege to be able to meet and visit with General and Mrs. Tommy Franks.

Teamwork

2011-10-23T03:36:00.000-07:00

Harvest 2011 will be remembered as one of my favorites. The warm, dry weather allowed for an early start. The crop was much better than expected. We have a team that's just fun to be around and work together with. This pose was for a Farm Bureau photographer that came out and took pictures one day. Linda is our partime bookkeeper. She handles the mail, pays the bills, writes our commitments on the calendar for us so we don't forget, and helps keep office work organized.
Alex has been in season help for a number of years. He is the same age as Kurt and Karl. They used to play AAU ball together. He works anywhere he is needed and is great help.
Pablo is a neighbor and family friend. He is great help when time allows. He works fulltime at Osky Foods, partime at New Hope, and partime for brother Doug. Pablo always has a smile and a great attitude.
Bob is a retired neighbor that comes every Friday morning and cleans shop. It helps keep me organized when I know he's coming because then I tend to finish projects that might be in his way for cleaning.
Brad is in partnership with BJ on his grandpa's farm. He is a manager at MCG which is part of Musco. He is capable and can do any farm job he is asked to do. He and Julie have a daughter Avery that Cassia babysits for partime.

Isaiah is a senior at Pella Chr. High. He is a nephew that helps during honey hauling season. He has work release and helps in afternoons and on Saturdays.
Paula is Pablo's wife. She keeps the office clean. It is always fun to have her and their daughter Jestina around. Paula has a great attitude and is a hard worker. Sometimes the guys tend to leave tools, coats, shop manuals, or coffeetime lay in the office. After Paula's been here things are so clean we're just about scared to walk in.
This is Natalie Mae. She is the newest member of our team and family. Natalie was born this past Tuesday. She came home Thursday to join her mom and dad, BJ and Cassia, and her 4 brothers and sisters.
Finally a big "Thank you" to some team members I don't have pictures of this week, Brian and Becky who come out and help whenever time and responsibilities allow, and to our spouses who put up with our long hours in the field during fall fieldwork. I feel so blessed to be part of this family and team. Team work involves realizing, appreciating, and utilizing other people's potential. When a team has the right perspective and attitude, working together leads to discovering skills, talents, and abilities we may never have thought we possessed.

You Know It Might Be A Long Day When

2011-10-15T03:24:00.000-07:00

You know it might be a long day when your girl cousin pushes you off your toy 4-wheeler.

You know it might be a long day when you are involved in a fairly seriously accident after a young lady pulls in front of you and when you call 911 the operator says, "can you hold please". Actually after being told the circumstances she did immediately dispatch the emergency vehicles.

It is a long day when you are recovering from a bad fall and are confined to either a wheel chair or your hospital bed. You're a trooper Dan. Hang in there.

You know it might be a long day when the semis are busy and you are hauling beans to Barns City from a custom field with a 1066 and wagons. Good job Kurt and Brad.
You know it might be a long day when you are building a terrace and it is so long you can barely see your helper on the other end. We "gotter done" though didn't we Mike.
You know it might be a long day when you pull into a customers field, go 20 feet, and hit a 3 inch pipe where a house used to sit.
Sometimes our mishaps are like the dust and clouds in this picture that try and hide the sunset. The fact remains that the sunset is still there even if we can't always see it.

As long as we have the ability to work, things to do, and people to care about, it's a good day.

Once Upon A Time

2011-10-09T03:46:00.001-07:00

Good morning folks. Well I'm back in the camera business. My daughter-in-law, Cassia found me a camera that is waterproof, dustproof, and even shockproof. It says right on the camera it can stand a fall of five feet, about the height of my shirt pocket. The only problem is I spent all week in the dozer taking boring pictures of dirt so I'm going to share a story with you this week.
Back in the 1960's brothers, Daryl and Tom, were prominant, cutting edge farmers north of Rose Hill. After their father died in the 1970's they decided to desolve their partnership and farm seperately.

Daryl decided to run for public office as county supervisor and not buy his own line of machinery. He and his wife Rosie had two children and lived on the old home farm.

One fall morning about 6 am Daryl called a young 22 year old farmer and asked him if he would like to rent a farm. He said his corn was about half harvested and chiseling could start at any time. Daryl said some rainy day he might have a contract written up. Terms and acres were never mentioned. That 22 year old was me and Daryl's half of the farm was 400 acres. It doubled my operation back in 1978.

In those early years we would spend weeks at a time at their farm putting in and taking out the crop. The soybeans were stored together. The corn was divided by the row. We always stopped and ate lunch at the house that Rosie always fixed. I can still remember Daryl saying the same grace every meal. "Bless O Lord for these thy gifts which we are about to partake through the bounties of thy grace. Amen. Help yourself." One noon in particular I remember it was drizzling. I had spent the night before in the hospital with Jan who had given birth to our second son. I wasn't sure if Daryl wanted me to continue to pick corn in the drizzle so I told him Jan was in the hospital. I'll never forget he said, "what the h--- are you doing here. Go see your new son." Happy Birthday in a few days Mark.

In the early 2000's as Daryl's health started to be an issue he asked us if we would buy the farm. I told him I wanted to rent from him forever. A couple of years later we purchaced a large portion of the farm spitting it with a neighbor.

As I was building terraces on the farm this past week I was struck by the fact that Daryl and Rosie would quit farming in their early fifties, my age now, and give a chance to a young family. Renting 400 acres during the 1980's was the blessing that allowed us to keep going and raise 6 children during that time.

Since Daryl and both children have died we include Rosie as part of our family and try and visit her every week where she lives in assisted living. Thank you Rosie for your friendship. Thank you God for your providence. Daryl, someday when I join you in heaven I hope we can farm together again happily everafter.

On Loan From God

2011-10-02T06:44:00.000-07:00

Well folks I own two digital cameras both of which have fallen out of my pocket this fall and broken so I am at a loss for pictures this week. I decided to borrow some pictures from Becky of some good looking kids. However I have a test for you this week for those of you that know our family well. I only found eleven pictures. Which grandchild is missing?

Children and grandchildren are a heritage from the Lord and a reward from Him. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. A paraphrase from Psalm 127.

Experiancing Fall

2011-09-25T05:16:00.000-07:00

One of the joys of rural life is observing God's creation and it's beauty first hand. This sunrise is getting ready to burn off the fog in the valleys below and is the promise of a bright fall day. Our crop is much better than we were expecting. Discretionary income after the bills are paid and the bank notes made current bring opportunities. It also brings responsibilities. As I think back I'm reminded that real satisfaction and self worth do not come from a sale or purchace. Satisfaction and self worth come from sharing, serving, anf giving.

We received this log sign gift this week from a neighbor who was thanking us for letting him cut firewood in our timber.

I am so blessed to have five wonderful daughter-in-laws and a great daughter who help shape our family. This is Cassia helping run grain cart while Grandma babysits. She and BJ are expecting number five in just a few weeks.

Last week Tuesday brother Dan fell backwards down a flight of stairs and shattered his ankle. He was transferred from our local hospital to Iowa City where he had surgery. Here Jan is his favorite sister-in-law because she is feeding him and he loves food.

This is harvesting some of Mark's corn in Wapello County with the Iowa Southern Utilities power plant in the background.

Last evening Bob Vander Plaats spoke at the Oskaloosa Christian School's Generations To Come Banquet and stressed how important the family is in molding leaders for our schools, churches, communities, and country.

In creation God ends our harvest days just like he starts them, with the beauty and the promise that He is taking care of us. What God has taught me in my occupation is that he did not put me here to be financially successful. He put me here to be faithful to Him, my family, my friends, and my farming career.

Looking Back/Moving Forward

2011-09-17T18:27:00.000-07:00

Have you ever went back to a childhood memory and everything looked smaller than you remembered it? Forty years ago this highway was the main thoroughfare across the country. It's Old Highway 92 and it's looking toward Bellfountain Hill east of Tracy. Can you imagine trucks meeting each other going the 70 mph speed limit back then? During the past week our country has been looking back and remembering 9/11/2001 and the people that died that day. Isn't it something how we all remember where we were and what we were doing when we heard the news?

Our small rural town did a really good job of not only honoring those who lost their lives that day, but also remembered the folks that worked at Ground Zero and helped with the recovery effort and moving forward after the attack. One of the things I remember is that for a few days everybody in this country thought it was a good thing to pray to a Sovereign God and ask for help.

Last week Sunday our church dedicated our new Fellowship Hall. These gentlemen were on the committee that planned and managed the project. Son, Mark is the young one in the bunch. The service consisted of looking back and remembering God's goodness to our church family.

Our morning service ended in the new fellowship hall and focused on moving forward in helping people feel more welcome and having more room for the younger folks of our church.

Oh my. I think I looked back to far. I had to be the goofiest looking fellow in all the 70's. At least I had a good looking date. This was Jan and I's first offical date. The couple beside us, Phil and Phylis introduced us.

This was our family 15 years after that first date. Looking back we didn't have a plan but God did. Oh sometimes back then I thought I had a plan and the harder I tried doing things on my own, the behinder I got. Finally I told God my plan for running things on my own wasn't working and I asked for some help and He's been helping me ever since.

One day this week after an unusual set of circumstances all six of our children happened to be around early in the morning so Jan made breakfast for everyone. As I happened to catch them all at the table I thought to myself, Thank you God for Jan, for children, for their loving spouses, for grandkids, for Your plan in moving our lives forward.

A Few Of My Favorite Things

2011-09-11T02:36:00.000-07:00

It's early on a beautiful moonlit Sunday morning and I'm trying to decide what to share this week. Sunrises are a favorite of mine. It's a promise of another new day. This is a harvest picture taken earlier in the week. I love watching kids interact with kids and wondering what they are thinking. Here Zachery has a crsis of some kind. Elliot is coming up with a solution and Ezra is ignoring the situation.

While waiting on a truck BJ is cleaning the windows on the combine I'm driving while Ezra watches. Thanks BJ.

It's not always possible to stop for a meal. However on this day Jan brought us pizza and homemade apple pie.

Oops. Not one of my favorite things. Mowing around fields after they are harvested is something I enjoy doing but once in a while an intake just jumps up and gets in the way. I quickly relpaced it so the boys wouldn't know I goofed again.

Mike and Kurt aren't letting grass grow under their feet. They are starting a terrace before the combines even get out of the field.

Another one of my favorite things is kids having the ability to relate to adults. Here my neaces are selling pop and cinnamon rolls to the attendees of Grandpa's machinery consignment sale at the salebarn

This bean field looks like a football field. I enjoy being a seed dealer. Often I will plant a mix of beans that customers have either returned or are left over.

"Then I realized that it is good for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his work under the sun(rise) during the few days of life God has given him, for this is his destiny. Another thing, when God gives a man things, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his destiny, and be happy in his work, this is a gift from God. He seldom looks back on the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with the gladness of his heart." Ecclesiastes 5:18-20

Labor Day Memories

2011-09-03T13:44:00.001-07:00

What memories come to your mind when you think about Labor Day. Recent memories for me include kids camping, football, and start of harvest. My 25 year old memories are softball tournaments, machinery consignment auctions, and silo filling. It's the 50 year old memory I have of Labor Day that I want to share with you today. The pictures of this week's activities don't necessarily go along with my story.

When I was a kid Labor Day was the annual family reunion on my dad's side. My dad's parents had 10 married children and a gazillion grand kids. Each year two married children were in charge of games, location, and reading the reunion minutes which consisted of who was in charge the previous year, where it was held, and who had babies.

The in charge folks had to be early to set up those old brown Monroe tables for all the food. Everyone brought lawn chairs. Uncle Harold and Aunt Wimp always had the most colorful chairs. Remember those wide nylon intertwined plaid chairs made of aluminum tubing.

Soon everyone started coming in their cars as big as houseboats with all their kids and all that food. Grandma always brought a dish of asparagus and a bowl of strawberries. Aunt Mert always brought fried chicken that she had just killed and cleaned. Uncle Sam would only eat what his wife Aunt Wilma would bring. Uncle Jake and Aunt Nellie would show up shuffling very slowly and actually looked older than Grandpa and Grandma.

The men gathered in lawn chairs. The women arranged and rearranged the food. The kids all ran around like frisky calves. Pretty soon it was time to eat. Someone hollered loud enough for car alarms to go off except there weren't any in those days. Grandpa got up, put out his cigar, got that church look, and said it was time to pray. He had alot to pray about but all I could think about as a kid was that the food was getting cold.

After dinner the minutes were read and next years in charge folks were picked. The little kids had to play these games the in charge Aunts thought up. I was always embarassed to play. Finally the moment all of us kids were waiting for, the softball game with the dad's and the big kids. We all brought our ball gloves hoping some big person would say, hey, I think you're old enough to play this year.

The Aunts hung around the tables and were a beehive of conversation. The little kids would gather around the ballgame just waiting to dash after stray hit balls. Grandpa would come and sit on the sidelines and relight his cigar. I can't remember if we respected him so much or if we were just scared of him but I don't remember ever being that close to him. Of course the game was slow pitch and the grade school kids were pitched to until they hit the ball. Cousin Stanley could always hit homeruns.

Finally after a wonderful time we all left and returned to our indivigual homes knowing summer was just about over for another year. So while you are celebrating Labor Day this weekend think about the memories you are making for your children and grandchildren.

Starting and Finishing

2011-08-28T06:39:00.001-07:00

Have you ever had too many projects started and in progress but not finished. Sometimes it's because of lack of time. Sometimes it's waiting till the last minute because of being unsure on how to proceed. Sometimes it's just a lack of enthusiam or self confidence. In most cases you just have to be brave enough to try something.
Mike and I helped on the same project this past week fixing a hole in a dike and clearing 3 acres of sand off of a bottom. Mike is just finishing for the day here and is heading for his pickup and fuel tank. You can see how dusty it is after two months of dry weather.
This is BJ and Craig, both in the tiling business, talking shop and trading stories one evening while they wait for the trackhoe and scraper to call it a day.

Saturday morning I saw these young men standing along the street being brave enough to wave their signs at traffic asking for work. Since I was just two blocks from my destination and since I admired their enthusiasm I stopped, gave them a donation, told them I'd be back in 30 minutes, and walked the 2 blocks to the cell phone store.

Usually at the start of a school year the board at PCHS holds a board/staff social. The evening included appitizers, supper, a game, and 4-wheeler riding. The folks on the board that were in charge did an excellent job.

At the wedding last weekend in Colorado here are three brothers(my sister Donna and Roger's sons) watching their other brother cut cake at the reception as Carl and Nicole start married life together.

After the wedding last weekend Jan and I spent a couple of days around Walden, Colorado enjoying the scenery and remembering the good times we have had there in the past as family. One of my favorite memories is this meadow. We were vacationing during the haying season and helping harvest the grass hay. I was mowing here and my now son-in-law rode with me the whole afternoon in a small cab getting up the nerve to ask me if he could marry Becky. I'm so glad he did. From the top of Owl Mountain it's kind of hard to tell where the road starts and where it finishes. It's like that in life. We don't know the future and if we are really honest with ourselves God and others had a lot to do with getting our start. However while we are in the part of life we can see now, if we are brave and have faith, we can get things done.

Because HE lives I can face tommorow. Because HE lives all fear is gone. Because I know HE holds the future, and life is worth the living, just because HE lives.

Getting Ready

2011-08-18T11:28:00.000-07:00

As I am writing this weekend's blog Jan and I are enjoying the view from her cousin Linda and David's cabin in Estes Park, Colorado. In the past I haven't taken much time for politics. However we participated in the Ames Strawpoll last Saturday. Salt of the earth people need to be involved in the process of getting ready to elect our countries next leader. If we don't we will lose our process.
There are risks in allowing kids to explore. However there are also risks in sheltering kids and not letting them grow up.

A few days ago BJ, Gideon, Kurt, and I went to Mound City, Missouri to look at a tool bar for Kurt as he is getting ready for fall. A toolbar is an implement that applies anhydrous ammonia for next years corn crop. This particular bar is run by satellite and gives the operator the ability to monitor NH3 flow for individual knives from the cab.

This past Wednesday evening our family held our annual Customer Appreciation Supper. Jan always does a spectacular job of preparing a homegrown meal. We also use this event as an incentive to have the shop cleaned up, summer projects close to finished, and in general just getting ready for harvest. If the weather stays warm the progress of the corn maturity says we will start harvest in about 3-4 weeks.

We had rehersal supper for my nephew Carl and his fiance, Nicole at my sister Donna and Roger's home in Loveland, Colorado this past Friday evening. All four of Donna's brothers as well as Mom and Dad were able to attend from Iowa.

In recent years the seed purchace part of the crop inputs has become very important and expensive in the management and planning of a corn crop. Technology has raised yields. Input costs have followed suit. Below is a group of Dekalb dealers at a plot near Killduff listening to Dana and Scott talk about how we can help our farmer customers plan and get ready for a successful 2012 crop year while harvesting their 2011 crop.

This picture is the beginning of another day. If you are given an opportunity to get something done, take advantage of that opportunity. It says in Matthew 25 to get ready because we don't know the amount of time we have been given to get things done.

Close

2011-08-13T04:28:00.000-07:00

The definition of close is near to. That relates to space, time, things, and people. This bridge is a close fit for our sprayer. It crosses the North Skunk River and the little plaque on it said it was built in 1920. If you think about it there were probably not many motorized vehicles back then.

This photo is close to my heart. Kurt, Karl, and six of their friends were just ready to leave for a couple of days of Prairie Dog hunting at a rancher friend in Montana. Right after the picture was taken it was suggested that we all pray together for safety. Little did we know that our prayer would be answered just 14 hours later when life was spared after an unfortunate accident. These same 19-22 year old boys stood around their friend's hospital bed and prayed again in South Dakota before they came back home.

As trucks get bigger some yards seem to get smaller. It tests a persons backing skills in close quarters manuvering under the auger. We cleaned out a number of grain bins during those hot weeks.

Another trick is driving down 30 inch rows late in the season with the sprayer. Most beans in southern Iowa are narrower but a few use the same row width as their corn. When the soybeans are waist high or taller you have to watch closely when you spray for bugs and desease.

When you are in the custom work business working for other people sometimes you have to do your own jobs in the off season. Here we are tiling on Karl and Kristin's farm right through the corn crop. Although it initially looks bad, the losses are minimal compared to the results.

Last weekend we had Brian and Becky's kids overnight. Do any of the rest of you remember when you were a kid and you only had a bath on Saturday night? Plus I remember my Mom telling me I had to save water because hot water cost money. Wow, how things have changed.

Sometimes when we are doing dirtwork we will give the little kids a job while the big folks are working on something more important close by. It teaches kids responsibility and helps them feel included. Here John is trying to dig out a stump and keeps pulling himself closer to his work because the stump is stubborn.

One evening Cassia brought us supper to the field while we were tiling across from Karl and Kristin's house. The musical group Rascal Flatts had a song out a while back that talked about things that made you feel close. There have been a number of things over the past couple of weeks that made me feel close to my work, my family, and my God.

"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of this life." Matthew 28:20

Friends and Family-The Santorums

2011-08-06T03:00:00.001-07:00

I met a new friend in May. We have stayed in touch. Rick Santorum is running for President and is on a 3 week Iowa tour with his family.Last week Rick and his wife Karen and their family stayed at the cabin on our farm for the first week of their Iowa visit. They experianced lots of rural Iowa life. Here Brian is showing them how to clean fish that they had caught out of the pond.
Rick spent most of the week on the campaign trail but he did find a little time to relax with his family. Here he and Karen are enjoying a jet ski ride on the pond. Rick is meeting Iowans in all corners of the state in contrast to some other candidates who are staying in a 60 mile radius of Ames.

In this picture Rick and his son John are grilling for both of our large families. Harry Truman once said "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." Rick has taken plenty of heat from those who dislike his courage to stand for social issues and fiscal responsibility. He served in a leadership role in the US Senate for 12 years.

Rick and Karen have seven children. Elizebeth and Sarah are so helpful. I enjoyed having John, Daniel, Peter, and Patrick all help me on the farm. Little Bella is special needs and is such a blessing to her family. The kids are polite, can relate to adults(many kids today can't), are eager to learn, and are just fun to be around.

Last Sunday evening Karen and the girls fixed both of our families a southern cooked meal that was out of this world. Karen is such a Christian wife and mother. About 15 years she wrote a book called "Letters to Gabriel", a story about losing a son two hours after birth. Rick also wrote a book called "It Takes A Family". It was a contrasting response to Hillary Clinton's book, "It Takes A Village."

Jamie Johnson works for Rick. He and his wife also have six children. Jamie filled in for Jan Mikelson this past week on WHO radio. Jamie and his family also joined us for supper last Sunday evening. What a blessing to have 3 large families end a Sunday evening eating, visiting, singing, and praying together.

Politics can be a tough job. It is not for the feint of heart. Leaders are exposed to changing public opinion, misquotes, criticism, and lack of appreciation. However selfless service gives credibility and at the end of the day the person that is working for the good of his country, his family, and his God, can feel they have succeeded in making a difference.

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing. He has me lie down in green fields. He leads me besides still waters. He refreshes my soul." Psalms 23:1-3

Friends and Family, Part 1

2011-07-30T19:39:00.001-07:00

Baling hay used to consume most every dry summer day. Now it's occasional and most of it is done with a big round baler. However once in a while we get out the old wire tie and bale small square bales. Rachel is 7 and is helping stack bales on the hay rack for her dad BJ. Gideon is 9 and is running the baler. He straddles the winrow and just follows the raked hay around the field. I remember when his dad used to bale as a little guy and we didn't have tractor cabs I used to tie him to the tractor seat with my belt.
Wow Adali, you're starting young. Not really. She is helping grandpa drive and is waiting while grandpa is on the rack helping Rachel catch up stacking.

This is the real stacking crew. Brad is driving, BJ is stacking, and little John is riding on top supervising and telling his dad stories. Rachel, Adali, and I were just fill ins while the guys went to chase in BJ's wondering bull.

This pilot isn't really family or friends but I thought it was a cool picture. We were cleaning out corn bins for my father-in-law while this fellow was spraying fungicide on corn fields.

This is Cindy and Jan shucking sweet corn. Ron and I are in the patch picking. Ron and Cindy are landlords and friends of ours. It seems no matter when or how often you plant sweet corn it is always ready around fair time. This year we started eating corn last Friday and this Friday it was already just about too mature because of the hot, dry July. That's not a good sign for field corn as fast maturity doesn't give the kernals time to fully fill. Our field corn is just starting to dent which means we will be harvesting in 6 weeks.

I asked Rosie to display one of Jan's quilts that she helped Jan hand sew around the outside. When Jan helped Rosie move to assisted living Rosie still had all her dresses as a little girl that she was going to get rid of. So Jan took the little dresses and made a quilt for her out of them. We have farmed Rosie and Daryl's farm near Rose Hill for 34 years and have since bought it. Rosie has lost her husband and both of her children so we substitute as family for her.

Jan hosted the Ferguson Reunion yesterday. We had lots of good food and lots of talk about the good old days. Jan's maiden name was Ferguson and was raised in the Cedar, Wright area.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of "Family and Friends" as I share with you the wonderful time we are having with Rick and Karen Santorum and their family while they are staying in the cabin while Rick is campaigning for President here in Iowa.

Fair Week

2011-07-24T03:32:00.001-07:00

Fair week is not so much a week as it is a time of year. It is a time of community. It is a time of relationships. Finally it is a time of accomplished projects.

By the time fair week rolls around we are supposed to be finished racing around. So often we are so busy making a living we forget to make a life. It is a time to take time for people and relationships.

A lot of times fair week is when we hear what other folks are up to. When others are speaking are we listening or are we just waiting to talk? And when we share our points of view hopefully it doesn't sound like we are blowing smoke.

Fair week is the time of year for scattered thunderstorms with the emphasis on scattered. When the heat index is 112 and others are getting rain while you are watering your sweetcorn are you at peace that the crop will be sufficient and God will take care of you?

When you have a big project to catch and your job is bigger than your equipment it always pays to work together.

Fair week is the time of year when you dare to get out of your comfort zone and to share your story about what God has helped you accomplish.

Fair week is a time for building and enjoying relationships. Relationships with family, with community and friends, with landlords and people we do business with, with God.

As I am publishing this we are getting the most beautiful rain shower. Thank you God. This is the time of year when our crops are pollinating and accomplishing yield. Iowa has interesting weather. It rained most of June and has been dry all of July.

Unexpected Vacation Memories

2011-07-16T19:48:00.001-07:00

Our family vacationed in southeast Missouri this past week. What a gift to have 26 people spend a week together and actually enjoy each others company. Pictured below the crew is making one last Walmart stop before heading into Ozark country.
On our way down we stayed in St Loius at a motel. Our first unexpected memory came around 2 am Sunday morning when the fire alarm went off and fire trucks came with their lights flashing. Everyone in the motel had to hurry down the stair flights and outdoors with alarms wailing and strobe lights flashing. Of course it was a false alarm.

We rented all the cabins in Shut-Ins State Park. The park is named after the large rocks in the river called "Shut-Ins". We swam in the river among the rocks. The second day we went down the river quite a ways where it got deep and the big boys jumped off the cliffs of rocks.

About mid week we unloaded the motorcycles and 4-wheelers in a small town and rode the sand bars and shallow water in another river. The only problem was sometimes the water didn't stay shallow. I drove in a deep spot with a couple of grandkids. After getting the grandkids to shallow water the boys helped me dump the water out of the exhaust. Another of my unexpected memories is them reminding me I used to be hard on them for driving in too deep of water in the Des Moines River when they were teenagers.

The men all took turns cooking. Of course the girls were never too far away if they needed advice.

On the way home a motorist was stranded just off of Interstate 55. So Jan and I turned around and gave him a jump start.

Soon after we started for home Mark's pickup started acting up. We later found out he had gotten diesel fuel with water in it. Kurt pulled him with a toe rope for over a hundred miles including through St Loius. We met our helper Alex in Hannibal, Missouri who came up from home with a trailer and we hauled it the rest of the way.

As we were getting closer to home I heard Mike and Kurt talking on the 2-way about whether or not they had enough diesel to make it home. Well as you can see Mike ran out about 15-20 minutes from home. Fortunately I had highway diesel in the back of my pickup and soon had Mike heading north again.

This was arriving home around 8 pm. We picked up carryout pizza in Eddyville and ate together in the office so families could tuck their kids in bed as soon as they got home. What a privilege to spend a relaxing week making memories with people you care about. Thank you family.

July In Iowa

2011-07-09T03:20:00.000-07:00

One of the blessings of living in rural Iowa is having little helpers close. These are cousins Adali and Zachary sitting in Grandpa's office just off the farm shop.

Jan always has tons of flowers growing, especially around her garden shed. Since it hasn't rained for awhile she spends quite a bit of time watering.

Jan is busy picking peas, green beans, and onions out of her garden. Tomatos, potatos, and squash aren't quite ready yet.

As a Dekalb seed dealer July is the month to put up signs on goodlooking fields of corn and beans.

Jan uses one of our old cattle bunks to grow flowers in.

One of my favorite jobs in July is mowing road ditches and waterways. You can make things look nice and check out the crops at the same time.

Destinations

2011-07-03T06:58:00.000-07:00

Holiday weekends are synonymous with traveling to reach destinations. As a parallel we also travel the road of life.

There are days when we go through our daily activities pretty much on our own, minding our own business.

Then there are other times that our responsibilities take us on a busy road dealing with lots of people.

As we go through life there are bridges to cross and decisions to make that that determine the outcome of our destination.

Sometimes as we look around and consider our efforts those decisions we made seem to be working out.

However there are those other times that the road we decided to take was definately the wrong one.

Looking back it is always easy to see where we should not have gone, that we are in a rut, and that we need some help in getting out.

How will folks on this road of life with us remember us? Will they still see us stuck in our rut or will they see we have gotten out, picked up our log chains, and moved on toward our destination.

This Fourth of July weekend the 8th grade graduating classes of 1970-1972 that attended grade school together 40 years ago at Osky Chr. Grade got together and reminessed about where we have been, where we are at, and where we are heading on this road of life. What a blessing to have our Creator in charge of the road map. Happy Fourth of July everyone.

Visits

2011-06-25T13:22:00.000-07:00

It's late Saturday evening and I'm adding one more picture even though I have plenty. I received two free tickets to the Corn Indy 250 race at Newton Speedway late in the week. Since Jan and I had a late afternoon wedding I tried to give them away but to no avail. So after attending the wedding Jan agreed to go with me on a late date to Newton. It was noisier than quilt shop hopping and more crowded than Sam's or Costco shopping but I had fun. Thanks Jan for coming along.

This past week we were priveledged to have Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum visit our family and a few of our neighbors. The Senator and I met a couple of months back and have stayed in touch. He shared his conservative values and his vision for our country. He and his wife Karen and their seven children are planning a return visit next month to vacation and experiance rural Iowa farm life.

Last Sunday Jan and I went to visit Jan's brother Paul and his wife Gayle. They live southwest of Des Moines near Van Meter. Here Gayle is showing Jan their huge garden.

We have a railroad that runs through our property along our creek bottom. Since the creek has been out so often lately the railroad repair crew made a visit to replace several railroad ties.

Our son-in-law Brian and Karl are discussing where the best place is to plant a food plot on some unfarmed ground that Brian rents. They decided about thirty yards from a tree line considering Brian's marksmanship with a bow. They are hoping for deer and turkey visits this fall.

I made a visit to St Louis late this past week. Monsanto invited myself and about fifteen other seed dealers from six states to talk about plans, image, and structure of the company. This picture was taken from the top of Bush Stadium during a Cardinals baseball game.

Jan prepared and served the rehersal supper for a couple this past Friday evening. The center pieces on the tables were oil cans and wrenches since Brett is a mechanic. Best wishes Brett and Amber.

Kind of a unique visit came one evening after a very busy week. Jan and I were outside and there wasn't a drop of rain in sight. All of a sudden we saw this beautiful rainbow. I have always considered rainbows a promise of God's presense and goodness. Thank you for the visits.

Thoughts From A Father

2011-06-19T04:34:00.000-07:00

Over the course of my life there have been three God given gifts that I have received that I will treasure forever including eternity. The first gift is having a Godly father. The second gift is the priveledge and responsibility of being a father. The third gift is the blessing of watching my children become Godly fathers and mothers. In Ecclesiastes Solomon talks about this gift. He says you seldom reflect back on the days of your life because God keeps you occupied with the gladness of your heart.

Our culture today says the purpose of a father is to survive. God says a father's purpose is to serve.

Our culture says a father's principle is to be successful. God says a father's principle is to be significant, to make a difference.

The world says the practice of fatherhood is a status thing. God says fatherhood is a sheperding thing, being an example.

In 1 Peter 5:2-4 Peter tells fathers to be shepherds, not because they must, but because they are willing and eager to serve by being examples. And when Christ returns faithful fathers will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. Happy Fathers Day

What Do June Showers Bring

2011-06-12T03:25:00.000-07:00

Our June weather has been a tale of two seasons this past week. We started the week wrapping up bean planting and hurrying to get the corn sprayed and nitrogen applied before it got too tall. As you can see in the picture below we finished the week with lots of rain.

We even had a rescue Friday afternoon. The fire department went to get our neighbor lady by boat. The flooded creek has since receded back into it's banks.

June showers bring lots of yard mowing. Here Gideon is mowing their yard getting ready for company. We are all going over for dinner today for his sister Rachael's birthday party. I think she is going to be seven.

June showers bring lots of May flowers or something like that. Jan has flowers all over the place including Iris's.

Oops. Somebody missed the box. June showers didn't do that. But the wet ground in early June did cause some soybeans to damp off on the tighter soils. That means the soybeans all started growing and then got wet feet and died on the clay hillsides.

This is the first field of soybeans we planted in late April. They will soon be ready for their second spraying.

Last evening before Jan and I went for a ride to pick up the old van that had been left at a field I went out and took a picture of some early April planted corn. If I pulled the leaves up it was 48 inches tall. Thank you Lord for June showers.

"Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your rightousness." 2 Corinthians 9:10
Imagine your life as God's farm. He provides your inputs and blesses your outputs.

Now What

2011-06-05T04:29:00.000-07:00

As I was walking out of church this past week our pastor jokingly ask me, "So now that the crop is all planted what do you do all summer?" I jokingly replied that we just wait for harvest and asked him if he knew what the 4x4 stickers on a farm pickup stood for, 4 weeks of planting, 4 weeks of harvesting, and 44 weeks of vacation. I'm sure pastors get their share of what do you do all week when you only work on Sunday jokes. Actually we are still planting a few beans yet.

Spraying for others is a stressful job. You hurry to beat a growing crop. You have to stay off the row. You mustn't leave strips of weeds. Neither are you to spray things not supposed to be sprayed such as waterways, terraces, gardens, and flowers. You must run out of field at the same time that you run out of product. Karl is carrying the bulk of this load and is doing a phonominal(great) job.

There is always hay to bale for ourselves and others including some waterways.

A fair amount of nitrogen is being added this year to the corn crop anticipating higher corn prices. Here Kurt is showing his dad the ropes. I'm Kurt's fill in on this job since he and Emily went to Cary, MS. with their church to teach Bibleschool.

June is strawberry season. Mark and I aren't getting much help out of Ethan.

Here are two sisters talking shop about their homemade quilts. We went to Donna and Arlin's one evening last week for pizza. I think this homemade tablecloth looks so cool.

Jan took the four-wheeler to a neighbor's estate auction yesterday. They have a very unique old round barn.

Jan and I went for a drive last evening to check crops. It was encouraging to see green young fields growing fast. We took this picture while driving over the Mile Long Bridge crossing Red Rock Lake. We commented to each other how God reveals Himself to us in nature including sunsets. Early this morning I was awaken by hailstones hitting my bedroom window from a small, brief thunderstorm. I thought now what? It doesn't matter how evenly spaced the cropstand is, or how good the weed control is, or how much fertilizer is on the growing crop, God is still in charge. While we go through a growing season we don't know what the future holds. However we definately know who holds the future.

Remembering

2011-05-28T02:37:00.000-07:00

The Memorial Holiday is for remembering. We remember those who gave their lives serving in the armed forces. We also remember people close to us who we have lost. I'm sure all of you can relate to a loss you're thinking about and remembering this weekend.

Roger lost his life serving our country. I never knew him. He died two years before I was born. However he was My dad's cousin and best friend and I was named after him.

John was a young man who used to work for us. His parents were our landlords who we owe a great deal of gratitude to for trusting us to rent their farm. John was in his early twenties when he was killed in a car accident on a Saturday night coming home from Tulip Time.

Frances was the oldest of ten children. She married and had three children of her own. Her middle child, Jan, is my wife. My fondest memories of my mother-in-law are her helping me pour concrete, helping me tile, and her reminding me to pay my property taxes on time because she always said,"I don't want to see your name in the paper for being late." I told her on the day she died that I was going to hunt her up as soon as I got to heaven.

John Ferguson was a Baptist preacher in the 1800's. He had three wives although not all at the same time. They are all three buried beside him at the Fremont cemetery. I think the New Sharon bunch of Fergusons came from Margerett, his first wife. The Cedar bunch of Fergusons came from Rebecca, his second wife who died during child birth. His last wife was Amanda.

When I'm gone and folks remember me I hope they don't measure my success by how much my family and my business depend on me. I hope they measure my success or lack of it by how well my family and my business get along after I'm gone.

Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God and there is no other; I am God and there is none like me. Isaiah 46:9

Answering Questions

2011-05-22T04:06:00.001-07:00

If you think about it I'm sure you answer a fair amount of questions over the course of a week. I know I do. Some questions have easy answers. Some take more thought. Yesterday was a quieter day because of the wet weather. I was watching John and Gideon ride and after a while I told them, "I'm going to the house for a little while to talk to Grandma" to which John asked, "Do you want me to be good Grandpa while your gone?"

I was asked if I would go to a preschool graduation as a grandparent. Talk about making you feel old! I had a good time.

With Jan recuperating from recent knee surgery I get alot of questions about what she is up to and how she is doing.

Some questions don't just have a yes or no answer like, What is an acceptable stand of corn to keep for the year, or should I treat my soybean seed, or when should I start my second pass of roundup on my corn crop?

Some questions need to be answered by more than one person like, Who are we going to plant for today or Should we buy autosteer for this tractor?

As I was getting ready to close up the machine shed one night a helper asked me if he could ask me a couple of personal questions. I told him of course. He asked, "Do you ever get mad?" "How is your relationship with your wife, Jan?" and "When did you become a Christian?" Wow. Good questions that deserve good answers.

"And what does the Lord require of you? Act justly, show mercy, and walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8

Tough And Tender

2011-05-14T16:27:00.000-07:00

As I reflect back on the past week I see there were tough moments and tender moments many times in the same event. This is Adi who went with me last Sunday to visit a friend on Mothers Day in an assisted living home. She loves Rosies mirrored closet doors.

We had a customer in Powshiek County who wanted some pastureland planted. The tough part was getting this outfit out of the mudhole. After an attempt with another large tractor a wrecker finally had to be called. The tender part of this story is no one was injured when a log chain broke and shattered the back window of the tractor trying to pull this out.

Elliot is having a tough time fishing. The only thing he caught was himself. The tender moment for me was wondering what his older brother Ezra is thinking while watching him.

Hitting the bucket while changing oil on this RoGator is a tough job because of all the obsticles under the motor. Have you ever wished a manufacturing engineer was around during one of these times? I can't think of any tender thoughts for this picture.

The kids came on a rainy Friday afternoon to help plant trees and plants for Jan for a belated Mother's Day present. The only tough part of this story was trying to find a spot by the fireplace to roast hotdogs.

This truck is in the bodyshop after rolling down a hill by itself and coming to a tough, abrupt stop. The tender part is the owner realizes it's just a truck and no one was hurt or even in it during the accident.

Saturday a number of us helped BJ assemble seven waterline grids for the geothermal heating and cooling part of his house. The tough part was getting the loops tied together at exactly the right width so it would fit in the trench dug by a 48 inch backhoe bucket. The tender part of this story is John, the contractor traded his heating and cooling work for tiling work done by BJ on the contractor's farm.

This Oriole likes Jan's meals as much as the rest of us do. Jan puts out orange halves and even ties a vine up the post so the birds have something to sit on.

My goal and prayer is that as I handle the tough and tender moments that come my way I may not always do it right or be successfull but that I will be faithful in those moments to my God, my family, my friends, and my farming occupation.

Point Of View

2011-05-08T03:14:00.000-07:00

I had the privilege of meeting former Pennsylvania congressman Rick Santorium early this week as he came to Iowa to share his point of view on conservative values and his possibility of running for president. Among other things we had a good discussion about growing corn. It was good getting to know you Rick.

Speaking of corn this early April corn finally showed it's point of view after waiting on warm weather to imerge for four weeks.

A majority of Iowa's corn went in this week. It seems like it happens faster every year. Soil conditions were good. We just continue to need warm weather.

Of course after the corn is in it needs sprayed. With technology like auto steer, height control, and auto shut off, the sprayer can literally now spray day and night. Thanks for being such a good tender driver for Karl this week Cornie.

You know the corn is in when people start coming for soybean seed. Friday and Saturday were non stop for treating and moving out soybean seed.

This has been the busiest week we have had so far this season. After many long days and little sleep even a stack of pallets looks comfortable.

These fellows are catching up on stories and just hanging out while loading fuel. Kudos to the guys who made things happen this week. Kudos to the gals who hardly saw them. I'm so glad God tells us to take one day a week off and rest. Happy Mother's Day Moms.

Good

2011-05-01T04:16:00.000-07:00

Good Friends- Last Sunday we celebrating Easter together as extended family. Here first and second cousins are playing and enjoying the afternoon.

Good Old Days- Last Wednesday I took the afternoon off and went with my son-in-law and some Sully friends to Clarion, Iowa for a visit to see a collection of old machinery. This is an old Buckeye tiling machine.

Good Job- Friday evening the preschoolers through fourth graders including six grandchildren at Osky Chr. Grade School performed a musical describing the Bible story of David and Goliath.

Good Experiance- Brian and his friend Randy stopped by Saturday morning after turkey hunting to say hello and show us their gobbler.

Good Land- I was dozing on this farm yesterday. I've heard folks say that the courthouse is sitting on the highest elevation in our county. My Garmin may be full of beans but it shows this spot just a little higher. This picture was taken from a hill overlooking the North Skunk River basin.

Good Name- I took this picture across the fence from my dozer cab. I was intreged by this fellows name. I found it ironic that his first name is close to alive and I don't see a deceased date. Maybe he put his name on his wife's tombstone. The dates show she died when she was just 30. "A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold." Proverbs 22:1

Gratitude

2011-04-24T05:33:00.001-07:00

Gratitude is an overall tendency to recognize the contributions of others to the good things that happen in our lives.

Grateful people believe everything they have and everything they are, even life itself, are gifts.

Grateful people are thankful for their families, jobs, health, and friends.

Grateful people are thankful for the simplest acts of kindness or politeness and recognize when good things happen to them.

A sense of gratitude is taught by example and passed on to the next generation. Happy Birthday Dad.

"Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, the women were on their way to the tomb and asked each other, who will roll away the stone? But when they looked up the stone had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb they saw a young man dressed in a white robe. He said you are looking for Jesus. He is not here. He has risen. Go and tell your friends. He is going ahead of you into Galilee." Mark 16:2-7 Happy Easter everyone.

Gatherings

2011-04-17T05:11:00.000-07:00

Every spring I'm reminded that I make plans but God gives me the abilities, the resources, and the right conditions to accomplish those plans. Proverbs 16:1 says "To man belongs the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the reply."

Friday noon we got rained out from the field so to kind of enjoy the off time our crew went to town for lunch. BJ and Mark's families were available to join us. Saturday morning the PCHS board members set up for The Gathering Of Friends Banquet. It's held at the school as a yearly fund raiser. I have two months left and am looking forward to retiring as a board member. It will sort of be the end of an era for me. I served on the board from 1997-1999 during the dreaming and vision stages of our new school. In early 2000 a number of us started meeting regularly. That led to being blessed to be part of Eagle Partners, an LLC that was a group of men that acquired land until the school was ready for it. In 2002 I served on a search committee with some wonderful people to hire an administrator. In 2004 the board formed a New Campus Committee and I was humbled to be asked to be in a leadership role on that committee for 5 years. I served again on the board from 2009-2011. Ephesians 4 says "To each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it to prepare us for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up." God can accomplish anything he wants without our help but He chooses to use us and even gives us grace to do it.

Cody asked if he could have a garden so Mike built him a bunk and will fill it with dirt so that he could raise a few things by their home.

Just a typical wet Saturday noon gathering enjoying Grandma's leftovers.

As we set out to accomplish our goals this spring God knows our motives better than we know them ourselves. He is also sovereign which means" in charge" not only day to day but throughout history. What a comfort when we listen to the news.

Looking Forward

2011-04-10T04:21:00.001-07:00

There are times on our journey through life when we wish we could see farther down the road. The funny thing is all those things we worry about such as health, our work, the markets, and the weather most times work themselves out without our help.

We were able to plant just a little corn this past week. The calendar and the thermometor are telling us we will be looking forward to using both these planters and these lawn mowers just as soon as things dry up a little. More seeding was done this spring than in a coons age. Last summer was hard on alfalfa fields and waterways. This past Friday we were able to go to Ames where Dr. Greenwald was able to fix Jan's knee. She is looking forward to getting back to her projects. Although I don't mind running errands for her I'm looking forward to having my Proverbs 31 gal back. Here Ethan is helping Grandpa throw straps across a load of seed corn. With a dozen grandkids growing up and another on the way I'm looking forward to the future even though I can't see down the road as far as I would like sometimes. As I've told you before Saturday evenings are my favorite time of week. There is a sense of satisfaction in looking backward and seeing the jobs that were acomplished. There is also the anticipation of a day of rest and spending time in church with our Creator who is in charge of those things down the road we can't see. In the picture below Ezra and Elliott are playing in the edge of the pond after a picnic looking forward to warmer weather.

Traditions

2011-04-03T04:13:00.000-07:00

In the play "Fiddler On The Roof" the old father was bound and determined to keep his family traditons intact. Some of his efforts had value and were noble. Some were just curious customs and were humorous.

Most of us are not real fond of flying out of our comfort zone. Sometimes that's noble and sometimes it's humorous. Our day to day to day activities create habits. Those habits turn into traditions. Some of those tradtions at our house have included breakfast and haircuts, Mondays and grandkids, and Saturday night pizza. We also get used to shopping at the same stores, driving our favorite brand of vehicles, and interacting with our circle of family and friends. All of these things are good. We become comfortable and efficiant at what we do and who we do it with.

However what about that neighbor working across the fence? What about those folks down the road we don't know very well? Sometimes in our circle of tradition at getting things done we tend to become to busy to reach out or miss an opportunity to be a friend.

Whether intentional or not we pass our tradions on to our children more by our example than by our instruction. They in turn will pass what they believe is important on to their children. Some of those traditions are just curious customs. Some are faithful responses to what and who we value.

A wise man once told me, "Don't measure the success of a generation of parents by their kids. Measure their success by their grandkids". Are we by example teaching our kids to teach their kids the traditions we value.

Problem Solving

2011-03-27T04:30:00.000-07:00

No matter what you do or where you live there will always be things to fix, burdens to share, and problems to solve.

During this time of year we generally meet in the office first thing in the morning for coffee and make a plan for the day. However at noon if Jan is home and we are not too busy we go to the house for lunch. Sometimes these noon visits involve a broader range of conversations from broken washing machines whether or not to buy a vehicle. Here Mike is describing to his brothers and sister a small solution to the subject at hand.

This string of tile is going in behind the pond dike. The goal is to dry up a wet spot and solve the problem of Jan getting stuck with the lawn mower this summer.

Jan tore the meniscus cartilage on the inside of her knee and is laid up this week. The solution is to go to Ames and have Dr. Greenwald fix it with microsoptic surgery like he did Kurt's a couple of years back. The problem is jumping through all the right hoops for the insurance folks and getting a referral. Jan is being painfully patient waiting at home and I'm doing my best to take good care of her.

There will always be obsticles that cross our paths. How we handle them defines personality. How we solve them defines charecter. What we learn from them defines wisdom.

One day Jesus was talking to some friends in Galilee. He told them that if things were overwhelming and they were having problems they could go to Him and He would give them rest. He told them to learn from Him and they would find rest for their souls. He offers us that same advise every day.

Focusing On The Goal

2011-03-20T04:51:00.000-07:00

Ask a farmer why he farms and you'll get many different answers. Ultimately we have been given the responsibility to help feed the world. If you think about it a farmer only gets forty to fifty chances in his lifetime to put in a crop. In this weeks activities we are focusing and preparing to put in one of those crops.

After a long winter the farm yards usually need some rock to firm and clean them up. I got in trouble taking this picture. I wasn't supposed to get out of my truck at the rock quarry.

We always use spring break week as a goal to get seed corn delivered to our seed customers. Otherwise it gets put off and before you know it we are in the field.

Another early spring job is to fix tile holes. Tile holes happen when a broken, usually older tile starts sucking in dirt. An easy fix is when you just scrape the dirt off the top of the tile and identify the problem. A hard fix is when you dig too deep and both ends of the tile come up out of the ground.

Since the boys do tiling and terracing for hire quite often we do our own work before it's quite dry enough. So sometimes we have to hook the dozer to the tiling machine in order to get through the wet spots.

Sometimes we have to hook the dozer on to other things. In this case I'm pulling Mark out of his pond.

In Luke 9:62 Jesus talks about a farmer needing to look straight ahead and stay focused on his job to be effective. However even though we are to be faithful in our occupations He is using an earthly example to remind us that ultimately we are to have an eternal goal with a heavenly focus.

Stepping Forward

2011-03-13T04:53:00.000-07:00

As we watch the happenings of the week we are reminded that life continually steps forward from one event to another. Big things like earthquakes to little things like moving our clocks forward one hour are examples of this. Knowing God is in charge helps us all as we experiance life.

Jan and I celebrated our 36th wedding anniversary by attending a boys state tournament basketball game.

Congressman Ron Paul from Texas was in town this week as he considers a possible move forward toward running for president in 2012.

Karl may be moving forward a little prematurely here as he takes a spin in 40 degree water. He said he was checking to see if the jet ski still ran.

Jan and I went to an Omish community in Drakesville to pick up some loft railing and a porch swing. In many ways their slower and simpler lifestyle looked appealing. But I also feel God wants us to be salt and light in our communities as we live and work together with our neighbors.

Becky and Brian had their hands full this week with their boys fighting a respitory bug. All three boys had breathing treatments while Zachery spent some time in the hospital.

Jan shot this picture of the boys and I on the sprayer just before lunch one day. The gentleman in the upper left is Gavin, our equipment salesman from Zieglar Catipillar.

Back Home Again

2011-03-06T04:33:00.000-08:00

Jan and I always enjoy our visits to Aunt Ruth in Arizona. We usually ask if she has any odd jobs for us to do, go out for lunch, and just catch up on each others activities. Aunt Ruth is the one that graciously gave us the Rus family piano that we have in the cabin. This past Wednesday morning we arrived at the Phoenix Airport around 8am for our flight home. The plane was overbooked and a father and his young son were the last ones to check in and were really wanting to get to Des Moines. Since it seemed quite urgent that this dad and son needed to be on this flight and since I was seeing an oppotunity to come back next year with free airfare and because of Jan's wonderful patiance with me we took the $450 per ticket voucher and left for home at 8pm instead. Yes, believe it or not we were in the Gate B terminal for 12 hours. I counted people for a while. Then I counted airplanes for a while. Then Jan and I went to look for lunch. It took all 4 free meal vouchers to buy two salads. Finally we both ended up reading books. We arrived home safe and sound around 1am the following morning.

Switching gears, back home I was thankful the boys contracted some of our spring fuel needs. With $100/barrel crude oil it's been hard to know when to buy.

BJ and Cassia are starting to have baby calves, always a sign of spring.

One of the big jobs that always needs to get done before field work is to get all that seedcorn delivered.

Being gone always makes a person appreciate home and helps him see the blessings that are there including watching grandsons play in a dirty shop drain with yardsticks.

We never know for sure what track life will take us on. We look back and see where we've been. We look forward and make a plan. But one of my goals for this year is to look at where I am in the present and enjoy the day.

Visiting Arizona

2011-02-26T20:51:00.000-08:00

One of things Jan and I look forward to doing together is spending a week in Arizona sort of celebrating our anniversary. The weather is cooler with temps in the sixties but the senery is always bueatiful.

We attended a Baptist church Sunday morning in Chandler close to where we are staying. They had three morning services.

One of the fun activities while on our visit to Phoenix was attending a Ritchie Bros. heavy equipment auction. Since everything we buy while while we're here must fit in a suitcase on an airplane Jan didn't have to worry about me buying anything.

I was able to get a Phoenix Raceway pitpass while attending a race there. It was fun to watch up close and even talk to folks in the pit.

Jan and I drove to the southern Arizona border one day and walked into Old Mexico. I asked Hebron if we could take his picture. He sells leather goods to provide for his wife and five daughters. When we met him last year during a similar visit he told me stories of his families life in Mexico.

Yuma is always a favorite place to visit. It's part of the Imperial Valley just across the river from southern California and is an agricultural town raising all kinds of vegtables.

Signs It's Warming Up

2011-02-19T19:15:00.000-08:00

Although winter is probably not totally over last week promised a possibility of warmer weather just around the corner. The thunder and lightening last evening is definately a change from the last 8 weeks snow and cold. Jan and I enjoyed bringing Kurt and Emily to Des Moines to pick up their truck as Kurt gets ready for his 2011 custom work season.

A sure sign of spring are visits from crop input salesmen. During this visit we purchaced some NH3 to be applied in late 2011 for our 2012 corn crop two years away. On this particular visit the salesman knew Mark liked hot foods and brought him homemade canned jalapenos. What a way to warm up.

One day Kurt asked his Grandpa Ferguson if he would sell him his old Ford 7000 tractor. Well sure enough Grandpa thought that would be a great idea. Grandpa did however make Kurt promise he would put a ROPS bar on it for rollover protection. I had to smile when I thought about Grandpa driving it for 40 years without yet worrying about his grandkids being safe. I do the same thing as I get older. Here Kurt is working on his new purchace.

One of the first jobs a farmer can do as soon as the frost is out of the ground is to tile. BJ and Rob are working on tile carts. We are also putting together a new digger chain for the tiling machine.

This picture is about as sure a sign of spring as seeing robins. I hope Grandma's yard is solid and dry.

With the ice breaking up on the pond I was hoping to find a Bible verse for this picture that talked about changing seasons. But I'm out of time since we are going to Sully this morning and then leaving for St. Loius for seed meetings early next week. I do remember a Bible verse talking about "summer and winter, seedtime and harvest will never cease," meaning God promises us He will continue to be faithful as we in this farming occupation look forward and anticipate another growing season.

What Are You Thinking

2011-02-12T12:34:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I wish you folks were available so I could ask you what you would like to read about. I thought about putting on the final growth strategy chapter but you've read about that for the last two weeks.

I've been involved in helping political folks promote family values this past week but I figure it's kind of hard for you to relate if you were'nt there.

I asked Jan what I should write about since it's sort of her blog. She didn't help much. She said, "Just write about about anything. People want to know what your thinking."

Since it's Valentine's Day tommorow I thought I'd tell you a story about this couple I know. Late one summer Roger met Diana. They were from different churches and different schools so their first few dates were full of conversations about getting to know each other. It was amazing how much they had in common. As time went on Roger was just happy to have a girlfriend. Diana on the other hand was thinking Roger was getting kind of boring. He was sometimes quiet and didn't share his thoughts much. Diana wanted to know what he was thinking. Shoot, half the time Roger didn't know himself what he was thinking. Finally around Halloween Diana broke up with Roger. Roger was heartbroken and although he promised himself he would never date that girl again he prayed for her every day. Well the following Easter Roger broke his own promise and they started dating again. They were married ten months later. They worked together and developed common goals. They had a large family. They were always busy. Now thirty some years later their kids are all growed up and it's back to just Roger and Diana. They are more in love with each other now than they have ever been. Roger even tells Diana what he's thinking about once in a while. Although I'm retelling this story God actually wrote it for these two folks long before they even knew each other.

Happy Valentines Day "Sweetheart".

Family Growth Strategies

2011-02-06T04:51:00.000-08:00

I frequently get questions on working together as a family. Making a family business work requires a predetermined commitment. Sharing the work, the responsibility, the leadership, the ownership, and the caring will avoid roadblocks.

All of us need to feel wanted. Sometimes a correctional comment hurts even though it's unintentional. A family working together needs to affirm each other. Over time folks will forget what you say. They will even forget what you did. But they will never forget how you made them feel.

Sharing responsibility is a must in working together. A father's goal should be to have his children and grandchildren become better at a job than he was.

The older generation should not get caught napping in making a plan for the future. It's so easy to put it off because folks either don't want to or don't know how to incorporate the next generations.

It's so true that the jobs on a farm just never seem to quit. Taking time to acknowledge your accomplishments can range from as little as stopping for coffeetime to as large as planning an outting or even a vacation.

A family that works together, shares together, and cares together will grow and accomplish their mission no matter how little or big their bucket is.

Personal Growth Strategies

2011-01-29T14:33:00.000-08:00

This coming week I've been asked to talk to a group of high school students on how to prepare for a career. I thought I'd share a portion of the presentation with you. We need to start by setting goals. Goals can range from as big as life goals to as little as a list of jobs for the day.

Sometimes we get ourselves in a pickle. We shouldn't be afraid to ask for advice. We are never to old to learn.

If we want to be successful in life we need to be an example. To our fellow students, to our families, to our co-workers, even our employers.

God has given us all different gifts. We need to identify what gifts we have and then use them to be a leader.

No matter how much or how little we have we are to share what we have been entrusted with. When we become generous by being a blessing to others, God is blessed and so many times the giver is just as blessed as the receiver.

No matter what careers we pursue or how well things go we need to remember that everything we have is a gift from above. It takes having a servant heart to keep ourselves from thinking we did it all on our own. Just as Christ helped us so are we to help each other.

"May He give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed". Psalms 20:4

Dutch Bingo

2011-01-23T11:37:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday Jan's side of the family got together for a late Christmas. We celebrated her father's 88th birthday. The gals also had a baby shower for a new set of twin girls. They would be my father-in-law's (Gene) son's (Paul) son's (Levi) two girls. It was a blessing to celebrate four generations of family.

These are the three children of my father-in-law along with a neice Michelle, the younger one on the right. Donna is the firstborn (rather than oldest) and is married to Arlin. Jan is next and is married to me. Paul is the youngest and is married to Gayle.

Each of the three children have a set of twins in their family. Donna has twin grandaughters, of which one is not that into picture taking with two big guys, Jan has twin sons, and Paul has new twin grandaughters.

I had locked the upstairs bedroom door in the cabin. Since I have a terrible time remembering where I put keys I just hid the key on a small nail up high. Well as you can see it wasn't hidden well enough or high enough. Before I relocked the door I had these grandkids reenact the crime.

We spent a cold week hauling grain and working on our heavy equipment. This is a cat sitting on a Cat in the shop.

This is the unfinished addition to our church. Since BJ, Kurt, and friends are snowmobiling in Colorado for a few days I thought maybe I had better go check out the parking lot that BJ usually keeps cleared. Our custodian, Lana, was there early working on the sidewalks. It made me appriciate all the things our custodians do that many forget or take for granted. Well Done.

Watching Things Happen

2011-01-16T04:45:00.000-08:00

One of the biggest assets of a family farming operation is the interaction between children and adults. Children grow up with a sense of purpose when they have things to do and people to watch. Proverbs 17:6 says "Children's children are a blessing to the older, and parents are the pride of their children."

Here Ezra is watching Uncle Mark replace a clutch in his pickup.

In this picture the older grandkids are trying to decide who is going to ride and who is going to push. In a comical way it kind of reminds me of our government. When you have more people riding in the wagon than pushing the wagon you don't get very far.

Jestina is showing and telling Mike how to clean a 3-wheeler. She came with her father Pablo who is cleaning up a combine.

I attended chapel at Osky Chr. Grade School one morning this week where the second graders were talking about courage. This is Cody and a couple of his classmates.

In the future when your children ask you, "what do these stones mean?" tell them, "Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground." He did this so that the peoples of the earth would know that the Lord is powerful and so that you might always respect the Lord your God. Joshua 4:21,24

Teaming Up In Texas

2011-01-09T19:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we attended a wedding in Kilgore, Texas. My brother Bill and his wife Julie's oldest son Matt attended college there for law enforcement and that's how Matt met Megan. Since Jan and I were driving down we invited Jan's sister Donna and her husband Arlin to ride along. This is Jan and Donna figuring out a photo. Since neither one of them enjoy being photographed I had to take it on the sneak. Although I didn't admit it to them I enjoyed watching sisters team up to check out quilt stores between here and Texas.

While we were in Texas we visited an army buddy of Arlin's. They were stationed together overseas many years ago. It was fun to listen to them tell stories and get reaquainted.

This is outside the First Baptist Church of Kilgore. The boys were waiting for things to happen. It was around 70 degrees out.

This is inside the First Baptist Church of Kilgore. These are the wives and girlfriend of the boys outside.

This is Bill and Julie's daughter Hanna and her friend Tony. Hanna sang at the wedding of her brother and new sister-in-law. Tony grew up on the island of (Papa-new-guinie) where his parents are missionaries. He is now attending Kuyper College in Michigan where he and Hanna met. It was fun to get aquainted while we all stayed in the same motel.

This is Matt and Megan. They will be living in Longview, Texas where they both have jobs. By the time I got this picture they were both about pictured out. We met Megan's family at rehersal supper.

I was reminded of Ruth 1:16. "Where you go, I will go. and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God." It was fun to celebrate with Bill and Julie's family. It was also enjoyable to experiance being part of God's family and His promises.

A Season Of Activities

2011-01-02T05:37:00.000-08:00

Ecclesiates 3:1 says "There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven." I don't know what 2011 holds in store. My resolution is to try harder to enjoy the activities that each day, each week, and each season brings my way.

This past week was full of family activities. Since last Monday was Christmas break Jan had extra grandkids over. I shot this picture when I stepped in to check on everybody and ask how many she could handle for lunch.

The older grandkids played on the pond or hung out in the shop in front of the knipco heater to warm up.

Jan scheduled an overnight outing for everyone in Iowa City at a motel with a pool and waterslide. The afternoon and evening included shopping, swimming, pizza, playing games on the floor in the hallway of our rooms, and late night icecream. In this picture Emily, Stacy, and Kristin were gracious enough to take me shopping with them to help me find a compact camera that everyone had given me for Christmas. After the camera purchace I enjoyed following along and would sit in the halls and figure out my new camera while they shopped for bargains.

The following morning we all went to The Colony Inn in the Amanas for a family style breakfast. It was a really foggy morning.

On Thursday evening we celebrated Adalli's first birthday. She is quite a go-getter and has learned to climb stairs. Here she is peeking at Grandpa through the stairs. BJ and Cassia are busy painting in their newly remodeled home on the Hartman farm that they purchaced last year. They hope to move soon.

Holiday Happenings

2010-12-26T05:23:00.000-08:00

We started Christmas week deciding we still had time to build a pond. We stripped black dirt with the scraper. Mark dug the core with his trackhoe. This is Mike and BJ moving clay up the dike slope.
Jan had our Christmas meal family style around one big table set up for 26 people. Here a couple of boys are either helping prepare or snooping supper.

Opening gifts starts out with a plan but gets somewhat unorganized as the kids help open and play with each others presents.

For the last couple of years Grandma has given new pajamas for Christmas. This was an attempt to get a picture but not all the kids thought it was such a great idea.

Karl purchaced a blade for his IH 1566 so he was our official snow removal fellow for the week.

Chris and her husband JP and three foreign exchange students from South Korea visited Iowa and stayed in the cabin. Here the boys are experiancing Iowa farm life.

Pictured below are my cousin Chris and my cousin Sandy with Bianca in the back hanging on because her mom is driving. Having extended family is a blessing.

A Ponderosa Christmas

2010-12-24T19:12:00.001-08:00

It's a quiet Christmas Eve at our house this evening. I have so many wonderful memories of Christmas Eve's of the past. One memory not so wonderful was 21 years ago tonight when our when our barn, silo, and cattle facilities burned to the ground. Another Christmas Eve memory I have is from when I was a kid. I would like to share that story with you. It's called A Ponderosa Christmas. Merry Christmas everyone. I was excited. We were going to move again. I remember my dad talking to me about tractors and chores. We were moving to a cattle and hog farm near Union Mills. We loaded up the family and headed out to check out our new home. When we pulled up to the house no one said much. It wasn't new by a long shot. In fact it was kind of run down. Behind the house was a small pasture surrounded by a huge grove of Ponderosa Pine trees. My dad talked to the landlords about the condition of the house for a family of seven and they agreed it needed work and promised to hire a carpenter to do a little fixen up. It was a small farm and cattle prices turned sour. My dad used to call this farm a financial loss but a spiritual gain. We would drive 25 to 30 miles twice every Sunday to our old church where we used to live in Pella. I don't remember skipping ever being an option. One Sunday when we arrived home we found all our fat hogs in the cemetery rooting up flowers and bumping over tombstones. I'll never forget chasing hogs in our Sunday clothes and dad setting tombstones straight and replanting flowers in a big hurry before anyone showed up. One year as Christmas was approaching our parents told us that there would be no presents. Life on the farm was financially tougher than us kids ever realized. We did however put up our prized Christmas tree. I'll never forget the excitment us kids had when mom got out the tree. It had aluminum foil tinsel branches and we would add very breakable ornaments. Finally the moment we were all waiting for. Dad would get a drop cord and find an outlet always at least 40 feet away it seemed and plug in the revolving colored light. When that light was on it was officially Christmas at our house. We went to bed Christmas Eve with not one present under that tree. When I got up Christmas morning and came downstairs to thaw out there were gifts under the tree. During the night Uncle John and Aunt Marge had come unexpectedly with gifts. The boys received a train set. Dad got a rifle. There were more presents but I don't remember what they were. It's interesting that as a kid we had many Christmas's with gifts though I don't remember any of those but the one I do remember is the one where we didn't expect any. The spirit of Christmas isn't about presents. It's the intentions behind the presents. Presents are our expressions of our love and care for each other. Just like God loves and cares for us enough to give us the present we celebrate.

Celebrating Life

2010-12-19T03:01:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Jan's birthday. She celebrated much of her day helping prepare and serve the Christmas Banquet at Pella Chr. High. For 20 years she would ask me to write a Christmas letter for her for her birthday so she could share family happenings with her family and friends. For years I wrote it as if she was writing it since I didn't think guys wrote Christmas letters. How things change. Since she has asked me to blog for her for the last year or so and since most of our family happenings are already posted I kind of consider this blog an extended Christmas letter. Since I don't want to get in trouble calling this blog her birthday present I did go find a large prelit Christmas tree on sale for 1/2 price for the cabin.

Last Friday evening we went to this little pizza place in New Sharon for Jan's birthday. It was in a building I remember as Van Gendren's Kent Feed Store behind Wendall Knowler's service station. But that was over 40 years ago. In this picture Zachery is the only one paying any attention to Grandpa.

Last Sunday evening the folks from Gateway Church in Monroe borrowed a chartered bus and came and celebrated Christmas in the cabin. After supper and Christmas carols some folks shared testimonies about how God was working in their lives.

Jonathan has no trouble celebrating. He enjoys life on the farm helping his dad and has an answer for any situation. Here he's supervising his dad as they put a snow plow bracket on together.

As the weather gets colder on the farm the ice gets thicker on the pond. The boys put ice scews in their motorcycle and 4-wheeler tires and enjoy playing and racing together on the ice. Mike told me it takes around 4000 screws for four tires on his machine.

Celebrating Christmas is about looking back and remembering God's gifts of forgiveness, love, and life to us. It's about experiencing the present and sharing those gifts with each other. And it's about looking forward and finding a way to reflect those gifts through our lives to others we come across in our communities.

Thanks Dad For The Gift

2010-12-12T03:10:00.000-08:00

It's starting to look alot like Christmas in Iowa this morning with blowing snow, dropping temperatures, howling winds, and cancelled church. Christmas and gifts naturally go together. At our house Jan usually buys the Christmas gifts. So you might be thinking what's this "Dads and gifts" thing about? This is about Dads giving time to their kids, not just while working but also during the fun times. Cody enjoys being on the football field while Mike coaches. In this picture Mike is assuring him he still has all his teeth.

Mark enjoys riding and racing motorcycles on his abandoned coalmine land with his family. Occasionally he and his family attend racing events and participate competively. Here Mark is giving Ethan some pointers as Ethan waits on the starting line.

When BJ bought a modified race car I wasn't impressed. But what I was impressed about was that he used racing for family time, not family for racing time. Because of his workload and other family commitments I think the car only went out twice this year. This is Gideon and BJ at the Southern Iowa Raceway.

Brian is a pastor with a busy schedule and that busyness generally involves giving of his time and talents to his occupation. Yet he makes a consious effort to give his boys quality attention. This was a picture taken this summer just before an event in Sully.

Earlier this past week my father stopped by during Customer Days for coffee and to bring me our Christmas gift. Even as I appreciate his gift today I appreciate more the gifts of giving me responsibility when I was a kid, teaching me generousity, and showing me the gift of caring for others from both my parents.

This is the time of year when we remember Our Heavenly Father's gift to us, our livelihood, our families, and most of all his Son, our Savoir. I need to remember to thank Him.

Life After Fieldwork

2010-12-05T03:18:00.000-08:00

It has been a wonderful fall. Harvest seems like it's been months ago. Fertilizer application and tillage for next years crop are finished for the most part. Most of us have spent the last two weeks moving dirt. Kurt and his friend Mitchell are helping BJ tile. Mike helped build a pond west of Ottumwa and is now building terraces. Mark is excavating with his trackhoe. I have been cleaning terraces and shaping waterways. In this picture Kristen and her little cousin Renae are helping Karl run scraper.

FM business radios have always been part of our family farming operation. We have mobile radios in our equipment and talk in the field and even between jobs. Every family has a base radio so the girls can talk to each other, call their husbands, know what's going on if we're working at night, or turn it off if it gets boring. Here Ezra is calling Grandpa to tell him they have just put up their Christmas tree.

Yesterday was opening day of dear hunting season. A couple of boys went hunting with their friends. We get quite a few requests with folks asking permission to hunt on our ground and I usually try and accomidate them but it can get difficult sometimes. If I say no they consider me a grouch for the rest of the year and when I say yes it can get a little like shopping on Black Friday.

We have been busy selling and getting in seed for next years crop. This used to be a winter job but with early cash incentives and farmers planning ahead most seed purchaces are finished by the first of the year. Our family is having Seed Days the end of this week to finish up year end business and to just visit with customers and enjoy Christmas goodies.

Jan decided to paint the garage area of our cabin and needed a lift so we accomidated her by having her stand in a seed pro box lifted by our forklift. I was her forklift operator and was careful to move her slowly and as smoothly as possible.

Jan is averaging around two to three reservations a week for families and groups using the cabin during the holidays. Here I'm helping her decorate so it has a Christmas atmosphere for our guests.

A Thanksgiving Story By The Decade

2010-11-25T04:52:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time during the 1950's a son was born to a wonderful set of parents. And that son was thankful he was born into a large and loving family. He was raised during the 1960's and he was thankful his parents taught him to be thankful for the roses on the thorn bush rather than to complain about the thorns on the rose bush. He married the girl of his dreams in the 1970's and was so thankful for an awsome wife even though she drove green tractors and he drove red ones. The 1980's were a real struggle for this fellow and although it took awhile he thanked God for showing him who was helping him and where his gifts were coming from. There was a slow and steady recovery during the 1990's and this father and husband was so thankful for his growing family. The 2000's were not only a new mullinium it was a new transition time for this guy as he became a grandfather and went from a "making things happen" mentality to a "helping things happen" mentality. Today is the first Thanksgiving Day of the 2010's. This fellow doesn't have a clue of what's in store but he's absolutely positive his Lord and Savior is in charge of the plan.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone