Unplanned

We have a farm cat around here that is always meowing for attention. I think it got a little more attention than it planned on when Malaki (maybe Grandpa helped a little) put the kitty in a tile intake top. No worries. After letting the cat go it hurried back for more.

It's seed delivery season and we are busy hauling out seed to our customers. Believe it or not planting season will soon be here.

When you were small did you ever hear your mother respond to a foolish stunt, "I suppose if so and so jumped you would too"? Well that's what these deer did. Five of them all jumped to their death off a Hwy 163 bypass bridge just northeast of our place.

Mike built his first terrace of the spring this past week. To my right Kasey is covering with black dirt. I'm on the 1945 D7 3T I bought for sentimental reasons (It's what I learned to doze on as a high schooler) at a sale last year. I'm mainly trying to stay out of the way.

The tile plow was moved to a farm by Barns City yesterday and BJ hopes to start putting in tile Monday.

Last Thursday Mark, Kurt, Alex, and Kasey took down a garage next to Kurt and Emily's house. A foundation and concrete for a replacement will soon go in while the new basement construction is happening.

About once a year I visit the Capital. On Thursday mornings before the sessions start some legislatures lead a Bible Study which I enjoy attending.

I usually arrive early just to take in the bigness, the significance, and the grandeur of the place. I enjoy visiting with the retired highway patrolmen that greet you in the public entrance and make sure you're not a bad guy. I also pray for our state and the folks that work there.

I hunt up the folks I know to thank them and encourage them. I go without an agenda. Most folks know where I stand on issues. Thanks to Holly, Ken, Dustin, Danny, Chuck, Dave, Jason, and others for taking time to say hello.

Friday evening was the Joshua Christian Academy Banquet at a building on the State Fair grounds. JCA is an inner city Christian School of 130 kids from K-12. 13% of the tuition it takes to run the school is paid by the kid's families or guardians. The remainder is donated. 75% of the kids are from minority status. Students test 2Xs better than the national average at 1/3 the cost of what it cost to run a public school.

Ten years ago Chris had a dream of starting a school. She called some folks and spent a year in prayer and planning. Today Chris gives the credit to God for the school's success.

One of the men she called was Dr. Bob. Many of you will remember him. He started as principal of Urbandale high school. Then he went to Des Moines Christian for 14 years. After that he was our interim principal at Oskaloosa Christian for two years. Today he is principal at Southside Christian School in South Carolina.

Another person God put in JCA's life was Jan, a talk show host on WHO radio for many years. Van, also pictured and the speaker for the evening, hired Jan 32 years ago. Ten years ago Jan invited JCA to the radio studio. The whole school came. A principal, a teacher, and 9 students. They recited either scripture, I Have A Dream speech, or The Gettysburg Address from memory. Jan invited them back every year after that while he was on the radio and helped put them on the map. As most of you know Jan suffered a serious stroke and is still working on recovery.

  This is probably my favorite and most unplanned photo this week. After the banquet I found these two great God fearing men visiting. If you think about it they would have known each other well over the years. Danny and Jan spent the better share of their lives making our state of Iowa a better place. Both men had unplanned events that changed their careers. Thanks to both of you for all you did and continue to do.

Also at the State Fair Grounds Saturday evening was Gideon, his helper and friend Kasey, and his family, for the first rodeo of the season where Gideon competed in the bull riding event.

Last fall I scheduled our Malawi visit so I would be home in time for Andy and Amara's wedding. One morning this past week Andy came to the office and announced he and Amara are expecting this fall. Congratulations. Children are one of the best gifts God gives us.

Grandchildren are pretty special as well. God allowed and gifted us with six children and if you know them at all and how close many of them are in age you could figure out most of them were unplanned. Many of our grandkids were unplanned. That's not an issue. It's a gift.

I'm sure some of you have figured by now that part of this visit would be about the movie that opened this weekend in theaters in major cities. I have been working to get the movie to show in our community soon and am encouraged that will happen. It's the true story of Abby, The youngest Planned Parent director in the country, who quit her job after seeing a 13 week old unborn baby be sucked out of the womb, watching on an ultra sound screen in 2009. Jan and I went to see the movie in Altoona last evening. It's rated R however the movie does not deserve this rating. Their is no profanity. No sexual scenes. It's a powerful story.

 There is also a story behind the story. Ashley, the actor who played Abby in the movie called her mother to tell her she was selected for the leading role. Her mother started crying and told her she had planned on aborting Ashley. She was sitting in a Planned Parenthood clinic talking to a pregnant worker and at the last minute couldn't go through with it. When she called her father he cried and said "now I know God exists because He was the one who saved you for this purpose". He told her he had pawned his shotgun in order to pay for the abortion. Obviously the story talks about the guilt involved with killing an unborn. In the scene below Abby is placing two roses and a letter to her two previously abborted babies. I would be naïve to think this subject doesn't hit close to home for some reading this. Abby says the only way to get rid of the guilt and hurt is to give it to God. This goes for all of us and not just abortions.

The point of my story today is that there is life after hurt and guilt no matter what we are hurting from. Not on our own. However when we ask God to forgive and help us He promises He will. He takes that load. He paid the price. That's what we are going to celebrate in a couple of weeks with Easter. God forgave Abby and He also forgives us. Today Doug and Abby have Grace, Alex, Luke, Carter, Jude, Lucille, Magdalene, and are expecting their 8th child. Today Abby is director of And Then There Were None, which has helped over 500 abortion workers leave there jobs and find life-affirming ones. Her office is in the closed Planned Parenthood building where she used to work. Maybe a little long and a touch heavy today however when I die I don't want the Lord to ask me why I wasn't brave enough to share with even my friends. Have a great week.