What Fills Your Tank?

It takes diesel fuel to build a pond. It takes a beautiful rain in late August to raise a crop. It takes energy to accomplish one's purpose. So...What fills your tank?

This past Thursday evening Oskaloosa had Sweetcorn Serenade on the square. It's when the community comes for a meal of beef burgers by the cattlemen, ears of sweetcorn by the Osky Chamber, and a band concert in the bandstand by the city band. The Cattlemen and the Chamber asked if they could borrow our grill for additional grilling power. Mike and I enjoyed bringing it in to town with the Ranger.

There comes a point in building a pond when you can't dilly-dally around. So the core is dug. The edges are cut. The dike grade has been shot and both ends are completed. It's when you fill the center of the dike that you need to stick right with it. Because in this case you don't want "your tank" (pond) filled before it's completed.

And of course the bigger the pond, the bigger the job is to get the center finished. So starting on Monday we used three dozers whenever we had enough help to push dirt. One of the many things that fills my tank is watching the next generations be productive, working with grandkids, and experiencing their abilities at a younger age. Mark and Stacy's Elijah who is 13  did a great job of helping out and getting a full dozer blade of dirt to the top of the fill every time he pushed.

If you look at older ponds you will notice a number of them are a touch lower in the center of their dike. That's because the center, with way more fill, will settle more than the edges. So Mike always makes sure the centers of the ponds he builds are about a foot higher than grade when first finished so it has room to settle and still be level across the top. This is the 4th pond Mike has built this summer. We also added a wave break to the dike. That's an extra six feet of dirt on the inside at water level so the waves don't eat away at the actual dike. This wave break took an extra day of dirt pushing. Other than pushing the black dirt stockpile over the tow (back) of the pond so it will grow good grass, we finished late Friday.

And sure enough. After the most beautiful rain Friday night for our crops there was a significant ponding of water already Saturday morning. Can you imagine trying to work with all that water in the bottom if the dike had not been completed yet? Another thing that fills my tank is when we take advantage of an opportunity given, and it proves beneficial to be timely.

We also finished spraying soybeans for the third time on our own and custom acres. Another timely job finished during the opportunity of a dry week with soybeans growing fast. Thanks Pablo, Jim, and Alex for the extra effort.

I remember telling you what a pathetic stand of sweetcorn we had earlier this spring. Well, I'm not sure what happened but we have beautiful large ears of sweetcorn coming out of our ears. If you could use some just get ahold of us and it's yours for the picking. Or if you're unable to pick it yourself, let me know and we will be glad to bring you some.

We picked and froze sweetcorn three different times this past week. The first batch Jan gave away in frozen packages. The second batch we put in gallon ziploc bags for our Customer Appreciation Supper on August 11. And I think the last batch went in the freezer.

Jan had guys for lunch 3 or 4 times this week. On two occasions the county workers came over their lunch break. They have been replacing culverts so Jan went up and invited them for grilled meat and sweetcorn. On this occasion some of the kids and grandkids came in and we enjoyed a special dessert treat. Thank you Leah for bringing over that delicious homemade cheescake.

 

We have not been promised a life where our tank is always full. However we are promised in the "Book" that we will have help during those times on empty. Those times on empty might be loss. Might be lack of a relationship. Might be health. Might be being a constant caregiver. This week Mark was cleaning up a burned down house in Madison County and found this unburned Bible. Thanks for the picture Mark.

If you ever go around Pella on the 4-lane you will go under a bridge that was built 20 years ago and has never been used. It serves no purpose. If we are content only to think of ourselves and are satisfied to sit with our full tank, we serve no purpose. We can't build a pond if all we are worried about is the diesel fuel we might have to use. God is glorified when we are productive (Bible calls it fruitful) Remember the parable of the 5, 2, and 1 talents. The Master of the story cursed the one that hid his talent. Remember the story of Jesus when He cursed the fig tree. He didn't curse it because He was hungry and angry. He cursed it because it was not bearing fruit.

When a society loses the bigger picture of His-story (God), then the only tank left to fill is "Me". And that makes for a lonely and unpurposeful life.

Work at filling someone else's tank this week. And God in His abundance will refill yours. Thanks for stopping by and have a good week.