Several Sundays ago after our church service in a village in Africa we were hanging around and conversing as well as one could with language barriers. The home folks were happy. They were outgoing. They were selfless. They were content. I was reminded that morning that contentment is an attitude and doesn't come from possessions.
It was a Sunday afternoon before the Monday weigh-in of our county fair 50 years ago. In the grove of Ponderosa Pine trees north of our house in Union Mills my Dad was helping me teach my 4-H calf to lead. The cattle show was the following Thursday and we had some catching up to do.
My Dad taught me a lot during those growing up years. I'm not even sure he knew he was being a teacher. He just allowed me to be along all the time. I learned to love farming. School took a back seat. As I became more and more help he gave me all the responsibility I could handle.
A couple of years ago I started reading in the evenings to put my mind in neutral. I've read about 70 books in the last two years.
A couple of Saturday afternoons ago Jeff came to help BJ pull a well pump on the hill. Jeff teaches kids in Pella in the mornings and works on wells in the afternoons. It was good to see 7th grader John be helpful and want to learn all he can from this process.
Sometimes we are teachers when we don't even realize it. Grandsons Ethan, Gideon, and John started going to rodeos with Kasey. By mid summer Gideon started riding bulls competitively. It's good to have healthy role models for kids to look up to.
Jan loves to cook and is good at it. When our kids were young she taught all 6 of them to love to cook. The grandkids sit on our kitchen island and watch and help her. I often hear her giving recipes to those who ask.
I'm learning everyday from the crew I work with. It's interesting to watch individuals excel at different things. Some are good at organizational skills. Others at planning and bookkeeping. Some are big picture. Others are detail. Some are outgoing and love public relations. Others work well together however would just as soon let others do the talking. Below Kurt and Emily made us all breakfast the other Saturday morning before we emptied their basement. This past week their son Jackson told us he was going to be a big brother again in July. God is good.
I learn from Jan what to and what not to wear. For instance sometimes she says, "are you sure you want to wear that"? Occasionally she will say, "that looks good". Well, I had this one shirt I knew she liked and when in doubt that's the one I would wear. A couple of years ago it went missing. I couldn't find that shirt anywhere. I thought I'd lost it when we moved in our new home. Believe it or not it showed up in my closet this week. No idea where it came from. Anyhow, if you see me in a green print shirt, that's the one.
This past week we've completed most of our trucking. We're rounding up our grain checks, have a bank appointment set, and are looking forward to a new crop year. Thanks to Kasey and Alex for helping me clean this bean bin.
Early in the week it was warm and wet. Warm enough for the frost to come out again. Then Tuesday night it froze just right so Wednesday we went back to the field. However by Thursday the ground was a little hard again. What else would you expect for January?
Thanks to Pablo for continuing to clean up combines. Thanks to Alex for getting this first honey wagon cleaned up. Fortunately we have a place to wash inside.
On Sunday afternoon, New Years Eve Eve, my little sister Beth and I were returning from Ottumwa where we had gone to visit a landlord in a nursing home there. Since she lives in Colorado and only visits occasionally we were catching up talking about everything.
She asked me a question that made me stop and think. She asked, "do you learn from others"? The answer was, of course I learn from others every day. However when I have my dad hat, my seed hat, my farm hat, my coaching hat, my outgoing hat, my helper hat on, does it look like I don't learn from others?
A couple of churches in our area are currently putting on 21 Days Of Prayer. It's a get-together at 6am with about 5 minutes of praise, 5 minutes of a meditation, and then some time to pray, first personally, then together. It's a good way to start a new year. My goal and prayer is that in 2019 I continue to learn from others. And show it.
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