A Clan/ Sacrifice And Success

 A clan is a group of close-knit folks with a strong common interest. With or without being related they are united by a kinship and a caring attitude toward one another. Thanks for the picture of Allison and her baby goat Stacy.

On our trip Jan and I spent a warm afternoon enjoying this body of water north of Yuma in the desert. I snap-chatted home and said I didn't realize there was a lake in the desert. Mike snapped back and said, "That's probably where the Sacketts watered their horses during the wild west Dad".😊

 The Sacketts were a family clan that grew up in the Tennessee mountains and then traveled west in the late 1800s. Louis L'Amour used these fictional characters like Tell, Tyrel, and Orrin to depict early frontier life in his western novels. Usually someone would get in a jamb and the clan would risk and sacrifice to get their family member out of a bind. The bad guys get shot or run off. And the main character ends up with the girl. They build a cabin, settle down, raise cattle, till the ground, and often plant a garden for food. Thanks for buying me westerns at the thrift store Jan.

Last week Sunday morning we left the agricultural area of Yuma, AZ and started back for home to our Iowa family and friends. We listened to a number of churches on-line including Sully CRC, where Becky and Brian and their family attend and serve. We heard Barry, a husband to Kelsie and father to three little girls, had lost his battle with cancer. Barry's in-laws, Kevin and Brenda are part of this blog family. Please remember to pray for them all as they deal with an empty space.

We drove east to El Paso,TX and along our countries border with Juarez, Mexico just to the south. My cousin Sandy and I went to Juarez as teenagers on a school bus to help at an orphanage. We stopped at Denneys and had a cup of coffee with Jon, a pastor in El Paso. Jon grew up in Iowa and was son of Don and Shirley who used to own and operate Don's Diner where I and our boys, when they were very young, would go out for breakfast before haircuts at Mike's. Jon told us 300 folks a day are coming across the border from Mexico into the United States.

We also stopped in Stephensville, TX to say hello and catch up with Pastor Paul and Ellen. They pastored in Pella II CRC in the 1980s and also helped us out at Osky I CRC where they interimed for three years. They treated us to a wonderful barbecue meal, Texas stlye, at a restaurant called the Hard Eight Barbecue.

Jan and I got married 46 years ago today. We were both teenagers. Jan quit her job at Fareway and we farmed side by side together for a couple of years until we started having kids. Jan would also bring me diesel fuel as I did custom work all over the county. That was the start of our family clan. There have been sacrifices as well as success.

However success isn't measured in acres and iron. Success is how Jan and I grew "up" together in our faith. How our clan grew to 6 wonderful children and now spouses and grandkids. And how friendships, many with you all, developed and grew. Thanks for the picture Stacy.

Our farming clan is getting busy. Mike hooked up and serviced the scraper for a job he hopes to start soon.

BJ spent some time on the frost getting the last of the round bales rounded up. Thanks for the picture BJ.

Alex and Pablo used early frozen mornings to spread some potash on ground going to soybeans. Thanks for the picture Alex.

Mike loaded his dozer yesterday and headed for his first job of the spring. Springtime is a blessing after a hard winter in many ways. We'll be planting gardens soon.

Our farming clan added a crew member this spring. Joe will help as an agronomist, helping us and the folks we work with be better farmers. Joe and Amanda and their boys live near Bussey.

There are some questions I can't answer. Like why do some recover from cancer and others don't. Why do some have to bury their young son-in-law while I get to benefit from mine by listening to his words of comfort and wisdom. Joe and I went to Barry's funeral on Wednesday. Joe and Barry were close in age at Pella High School and fought cancer together in 2019. Pastor Brian did an amazing job of talking to all of us about our Hope for the future, even while living during exile like times (Jeremiah 29). And to look forward by planting a garden. God has determined our days here on earth even before we were born and we can't add or subtract from them.

In 4 weeks we will celebrate how our Lord sacrificed, dying and paying for our wrongs, so if we accept that gift, we will have the hope Barry and his family has. We have success, even in our storms, as Randy sang at the funeral, because of our promised eternity with Christ. That doesn't mean we wait around. That means we look forward to spring. That means we love our families and help out our neighbors and friends. That means we plant a garden, looking forward.