Is It Our Turn

If you've been around small kids you have heard the phrase, "Is it my turn yet?" when others are doing something. Below Jackson and Jayden are watching Uncle Mark work on cleaning up a dirt pile and thinking he is making them dirt bike jumps. Thanks for the picture Emily.

Malaki and Jackson were exploring in the parts room above our shop office. In a container of carpenter tools they found these two old hand saws and asked what they were. After being told, they decided to try them out by sawing on Grandpa's pallet. :)

Farmers made headlines a few days ago when a presidential candidate belittled the expertise of our occupation. Less than 2% of folks in our vocation feed the world. Although we have been trying, I think it's our turn as this generation of farmers to enlighten our urban citizens about where there food comes from. And how it's being done in a stewardly, efficient, productive, and economical way. Thanks for the picture Alex.

This past Wednesday we hosted an agronomy meeting. Of course most of our get-togethers come with good food. Greg led us in a discussion about seed population, proper seed depth, herbicides, fungicides, ag data, and precision planting. Thanks for making this happen Karl and Kristin.

The first year we were married I heard Jan in the kitchen saying, "Steve, is this a joke?" referring to a live snake crawling down our cupboards. One other time Jan heard fruit jars breaking in the basement and we found a bullsnake. I hunted up this old picture because:

Our helper Alex has caught and killed not one but two snakes in his house this week. They were both large. And it's winter time. There supposed to be hibernating somewhere, right?  Thanks for the picture Alex.

Oskaloosa Christian Grade School is getting ready to celebrate it's 75th anniversary. Remember a couple of weeks ago I had a picture of the old Christian School building. In 1946 our grandfathers started this school purchasing that building for $16500 and hiring a principal and his wife to teach all the classes. This was the first class to graduate 8th grade. 

This is the second class to graduate. I added this picture because my father is in the back row. Meaning our family has had four generations graduate from this grade school. 

By sacrificing, and with help at times, my parents also sent their 6 children. Below is my graduating 8th grade class of Osky Chr. I'm making you guess which one I am because I look like a goof ball. Seriously, Gary, Fish, and Kevin from our class have passed away. 

I am also going to add the class under ours just to tease those that join this visit. Since the old days Jan and I have sent our kids and now our kids are sending theirs. Christian education is not the only answer or option. Nor is public education all bad. Believe me, I was in public school twice and Jan attended K-12 in Osky public. 

For many of you outside our community I apologize for such a local story. However I have a point. Our grandkid's great-grand-fathers had an impact on them because of what they did 75 years ago. What about us? What impact will we have or are we having on our future generations? Will our great-grandchildren and others benefit because it was our turn and we stood up and sacrificed. It could be Christian or public school. It could be church or another organization. It could be short term mission work. It could be an invite. It could be help, or a friendship, or even an encouragement note to someone who has had a rough year.

Finally, the founding fathers of our country sacrificed just about everything they owned and valued so we could have the freedoms, the opportunities, and the resources we enjoy today. Many of our grandfathers fought to keep us strong, free, and safe. Some of our fathers sacrificed, worked hard, taught us values, gave us boundaries, were generous, and were an example. It's our turn. I think we have had some apathy. Hoping and praying for a cultural change, but doing little for the upside down and inside out world we currently live in. In the 18th century, Edmund said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing". Thanks for the friendships and thanks for stopping by.