Having An Influence

The joy of being a grandparent is watching your kids raise their kids and getting it right with God's help. Parents and family are much of the influence in how God designed the path to children being a respected citizen and an asset in society. Below Kristin brought supper to the field last Tuesday evening where Karl was spraying and I was tendering him.

Last Sunday was a beautiful day for Ki and Mariah's graduation party at the cabin. Ki is my brother Doug and Ginger's daughter. Mariah is my brother Bill and Julie's daughter.

Mariah has a little brother Michael. He is fishing with his cousin Mike. Mike is my parents oldest grandson. Michael is their youngest.

Michael and Adi were fishing together with a red plastic cup and fishing line they had put together on our pond dock.

Adi could hardly hang on to her fishing cup when she caught a 14 inch crappie. Thanks to Uncle Mike for helping her.

Remember your parents or grandparents freezer with rounded edges. It would be 60 years old and still running in an old basement when folks were finished with it. Well this week our 4 year old side by side fridge/freezer quit working. The repairman said it was junk. Jan will get a second opinion this coming week. Thanks to these fellows from Easy Sales for bringing us an older used one that still works.

With the majority of last week being wet Kurt continued to haul corn. This week from Prairie City to Fairfield.

We had a window of opportunity for planting northwest of Pella where it had rained less the previous week. Alex put in long hours planting soybeans Monday and Tuesday.

The sprayers were also busy those same two days spraying both corn and bean acres.

May is a month of graduations. And the cabin has been very busy with folks having graduating parties here from several schools in the area. It's a blessing and hopefully an influence to share with our community.

What are you doing to have an influence in our countries culture. I'm sure most of you would agree with me that we need a turn around in order to get back to the morals and values our country was founded on. Yet so many good folks don't want to be bothered. We need our churches engaged in our communities and with our neighbors to be a light in a dark world in benevolence as well as working for cultural revival.

Yesterday several grandkids had a skeet and clay shooting competition. As the kids shoot, adults are not allowed to coach however their fellow team members are. It was encouraging to watch the older kids coach the younger ones as they shot at their clay targets. They were definitely having a good influence on each other as peers.

Today is Mother's Day. Mothers have a tremendous influence on children and I was no exception. Four of the many things my Mom taught me was that there is dignity in hard work. There is power in prayer. There is joy in being generous. And there is fulfillment in serving. Thanks Mom. Tuesday morning Doug, Ginger, Bill, and I took our parents out for breakfast for their 65th wedding anniversary.

I would also like to acknowledge Jan for being a great Mom to our kids and continues to have an influence on our grandchildren. She has also been one of the main influences in my life's journey loving me in spite of my shortcomings. She continues to give not needing a special occasion. To me. To our kids. To our grandkids. And to our community with the cabin. I love you Jan. 

These Moms are special and I love them dearly even though I probably don't show them often enough. They are having an influence on their husbands (our sons and son-in-law) and their children (our grandkids). Happy Mother's Day to Stacy, Cassia, Suzanne, Emily, Becky, and Kristin.

So how can we have an influence? Inspire. Encourage. Affirm. Use folk's names. Smile. Genuinely care. Share your stuff as well as your advice. And point folks to God, the ultimate influencer in all our lives. See you next week.