Going The Extra Mile

Howdy. I'm visiting with you from a computer in a hotel lobby in Osh Kosh, WI. We are on our way to the upper penninsela in northern Michigan for some vacation time. Anyway over twenty thousand bikes came through town this past week. When I stopped by Beacon there were thousands of cyclist resting and drinking after their many miles on a bike.

We put some miles on the sprayer again this week. We sprayed fungicide to prevent desease, insecticide for grasshoppers, and a little fertilizer for foiliar feeding.

I drove a 4-wheeler to a farm across town to finish cleaning out a pond. When I arrived the dozer had a dead battery so I had to drive home and come back with a pickup to jump start it. Two sets of jumper cables for two batteries.

One of my favorite jobs is mowing road ditches. It also gives a person a chance to get a birds eye view of the crops.

Occasionally things don't go as planned. Fortunately my brother Doug went the extra mile and came and pulled me out of a hole.

In 2010 the railroad was getting ready to replace some ties. Before they accomplished their job we received a bunch of rain. The railroad flooded and all their ties floated away into a nearby timber. We went tie hunting this week and found some for Jan's landscaping projects.

We did some housecleaning and organizing in the machine shed this week starting to get ready for our appreciation supper Friday, August 9.

Kutos to Pablo and family who went the extra mile and cleaned up Jan's truck for vacation.

Friday afternoon we loaded Rangers to take with us to ride the trails in upper Michigan. We rented a large private cabin with five bedrooms close to the trails.

Here we are ready to load up. Our goal is to forget about our jobs for a week, relax, enjoy God's nature, make memories for kids, and enjoy each others company. If there are any robbers in our reading audience, no worries. We have great help taking care of things. Josh and Kristin are staying and doing Jan's yard and flowers. Linda comes, gets mail, and does books. Pablo, Brad, Alex, and Andy are all covering for us guys. Finally there's the cameras watching the driveways that Pablo suggested I buy that you're not sure if I got them on or not.

This is our daughter-in-law Cassia's father Mike. He and his son Micah headed for Alaska some weeks ago on motorcycles. Last week Micah was in an accident and is in critical condition in a Canadian hospital. Please keep Micah in your prayers.

These are my parents, Harry and Elizebeth. Many of you know them. They are always going the extra mile for people including me. Frequently folks ask me how my brother Harry is doing. Either Dad looks young or I look old. :)

Do you have a neighbor that you know would enjoy a visit? So often God puts people in our path and we are too busy to see them or their needs. It takes time to go the extra mile. We all know how good it feels when someone thinks of us and we have busy lives. How much more a visit is appreciated by someone who lives in a nursing home or has lost their spouse to death or an assisted living home. All it takes is a few ears of sweet corn or a dozen cookies and some time.

A story was told on the social network this week about a pastor a large church had called. On the particular Sunday the pastor was to come he dressed as a homeless man and loitered around the church while folks were arriving. When the time came for the new pastor to be introduced the homeless looking man came forward and talked to the congregation about the "least of these my brothers". Many of us have preconceived notions about folks that are down and out. On several occasions during stays in large towns I would get up early and walk the sidewalks. On most occasions someone would walk up to me and ask for money. I then offered to take them out for breakfast. If they were hungry they would accept my offer and tell me their story. It's amazing how many at one time had a family and a good job and lost it all to poor chioces.

And Christ said to those on His right, "As you did it to the least of these my brothers, you did it to me". Matthew 25:40  Think of someone you can go the extra mile for this week.