StillwatersIowa

What do you see when you look in the mirror? Maybe what you've been. Hopefully what you wish to become. Or do you see what you think others think of you? I have learned that worrying about what others think distracts me from who God made me to be.  Are you living to your potential? Once we know what our strengths and weaknesses are, many times our potential lies in what we enjoy. Friday evening Jan and I went to Pella to watch Jackson play teeball. Jackson belongs to Kurt and Emily and is the one in the yellow tennis shoes. Once after a game that Jackson had not tried particularly hard on Emily asked him why he wasn't engaged in the game. He said,"Mom, I'm just not a ball player. I'm a motorcycle rider." :) As many of you already know Jan has our smaller grandkids on Mondays. Well I always enjoy working with the little older ones. So last Monday Ezra, Elijah, Zach, and I loaded up the Ranger and headed for a field near the Lacey Blacktop to pick up ...

Good morning. Last Monday Jan's little helpers said, "Hey Grandma, we have a farm down under the table". It's interesting when kids play what they pretend to be. Thanks for the picture Jan. Many times what's important to parents becomes important to their kids. As Kurt stops to look at a planter his boys become equally engaged observing just like their dad. Thanks for the picture Emily. So there is not a better feeling for kids than when parents take the time and effort to be involved on their level. Last week Sunday, on Father's Day, Karl and Kristin stopped by to visit and to fish with their kids. Last Sunday evening was the Bible School Program at Lower Grove church. Bonnie and her helpers had over 60 kids for the week. It's hard to believe it's late June already. Our days are starting to get shorter already. We were able to get some more fencerows sprayed and check out crops at the same time. Below is a farm we are custom farming f...

Our sweetcorn patch could be described a number of ways this summer. Words like weak, insufficient, inferior, not enough, behind, less than perfect. We gave it our best shot tilling it in April with good soil conditions and the latest Roundup Ready seed. Our farming window this spring was two weeks in April, two days in May, and the past two weeks in June. My life often resembles that sweetcorn patch. Less than perfect. Although improving, some corn fields still look pathetic. I'm still working on being a better husband, a better father, a better father-in-law. In the grandfather department I forget birthdays, I miss shooting matches and ballgames. Thanks for the picture Kristin. As a businessman I sometimes forget to tell the folks I work with how much I appreciate them. I get a lot of phone calls and sometimes miss opportunities to encourage folks. A quick phone story if you have time. Since Jan is 64 my cell gets multiple calls a day by folks wanting to sign ...