Good morning. When our kids were small they were asked to get up early on Monday mornings and help sell hogs. We would sort 35 head, load and deliver them to Ottumwa, stop at McDonalds on the way home as a reward for helping, come home and shower, and be in time to get on the school bus for school. Today the pieces of the puzzle look different however the picture is the same and it warms my heart to see our children teaching their children. In our culture today we need children following the examples of their parents. We need parents leading as roles models. And we need families carrying on the tradition of being a family. Thanks for the picture Kurt.
I realize the puzzle pieces and the picture are much different in other areas. Yesterday morning I was looking for a cup of coffee in downtown Des Moines early. The streets were empty. Until I came to an intersection where a young gal was hollering at a police officer. This girl was definitely not respecting authority. And as I watched I thought how difficult it is today for police officers to carry on their responsibility when they are working with folks that should have had a spanking or at least a time-out when they back talked in their childhood days.
What's the solution to our culture today? As tough a job as it's going to be we need our family structure back. I had role models to follow. And they weren't scared to give me a good licking when I back talked. Changing gears. This virus is being way harder on our elderly than the media is sharing. WHAT you say. The effect more than the cause. My mother is alone in the hospital and my father is alone at home because of restrictions. We have elderly that haven't been face to face with family for nearly five months. I risk becoming very unpopular here but how long are we going to do this? Until they die of a broken heart and our government calls it Covid?
Enough of the heavy stuff. We out here in the country are being overrun by raccoons. I'm talking hundreds. I'm not sure what the rules are. But I can tell you their isn't going to be much sweetcorn at our house unless I can come up with a Plan B. Thanks for the picture Collin.
Earlier in the week we had a million dollar rain during our corn crop's pollination. We did have some storm damage to crops north of Otley. Thanks for the picture Dan.
One morning during coffee Mike was saying he sure wished he could plug the pond center he was working on before his families vacation. However he was concerned he couldn't get it finished before a rain event. So Alex and Kurt went to help him. It's going to be a nice looking project when finished.
Last Sunday evening John and Glenda invited us to Mason and Lane's 1st birthday party. Mason's parents are John and Nicole. Lane's are Kurt and Emily. It was also fum to see John and Glenda's third daughter Taylor and Will's brand new son Theo. Their fourth daughter Brooke helped take care of my mother when I was in the ER with her.
Kudos (correct spelling Kristin D :) to the Pella Christian School shooting team. They won individual and team honors at the national skeet shooting tournament near Columbus, Ohio. Cassia also received the "Mom of the week" trophy. Thanks for the picture BJ.
Friday was one of the first conferences held in our country since our new normal. The Family Leader had it's 10th annual Leadership Summit. Our countries Sec. of State, Our state's governor, Joel, my favorite author, Del, my favorite Bible teacher, and others were there to speak about country and family. Thanks to Jerry and Elaine, Steve and Sandy, and Hayley, Elliott, and David for joining us at our table. Yes, precautions were taken.
One of the speakers was our good friend Rick. He has led the cause about the importance of family all his life. His son Daniel was with him. Rick, Karen, and their seven children stayed at our cabin for ten days during the 2012 campaign when he was running for president.
Friday evening a group of us had supper with our countries Secretary of State. Mike grew up in rural Kansas. He loves the Lord. He said his faith is the prism through which he sees our world and his purpose in it. He was asked what we should do as Americans during this time. He said pray, engage, be fearless, and to speak the truth. He asked us to lead by letting folks know that we as Americans do not intend to lose our values, freedoms, and any more morals on our watch.
Jan and I had wonderful company at our table. Scott and Sonny, Steve (absent) and Foster, Marla and Clint, and Anden and Mavis.
The Truth Project was a small group curriculum taught by Del. It has been estimated that 20 million people have used the 12 one hour lessons. Yesterday Jan and I attended the second in the nation training for The Engagement Project also developed and taught by Del. What is it about? The Truth Project was teaching worldview, our mind, what we believe. The Engagement Project is our hearts. Action. What will we do? The Truth project worked to turn our culture upside down. The Engagement Project will work to turn us inside out.
We as Christians sometimes just "do church" and hope others join us. That doesn't work. God created us to have relationships. That's why all this social distancing and isolation is so uncomfortable. God tells us to love our neighbor. Who is our neighbor? A neighbor is defined as someone near us. It starts with family. Then those we interact with. Loving others horizontally is worship vertically because God's endgame is for us to bear fruit. Let's work together to carry each other's burdens one relationship at a time. The picture below was taken in Bethlehem late last year. That's the little community Christ came as a human baby. He grew up, paid for our wrongs on the cross, went back to heaven, and sent us help (the Holy Spirit) to carry our loads. As we follow Christ example, let's not lead an isolation and fruitless life. Let's show our children and grandchildren we intend for them to live in just as great a country as we had the privilege to live in.
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