We will soon start to see some action as outdoor life sprouts, turns green, and grows. Brothers Jayden, Jackson, and Lane are ready. They, as well as the rest of our grandchildren, are ready for the 2022 growing season chapter of their lives. Their clear thinking, active spirits, and eagerness to work, promise exciting future chapters. I pray for freedom and continued opportunities as they write the rest of their story. Thanks for the picture Kurt.
It takes strong women to allow these kind of grandchildren to live chapters of action and adventure. It also takes real men with grit and gratitude to walk and work along side these young stories. Our culture today is trying to devalue and diminish real men. Real men do not allow fear to determine decisions. Real men would not allow a guy to be on their daughters swimming team and in their locker rooms.
Last Saturday evening Cornerstone Church (old Pella II) hosted a chili cookoff for guys. Thirty some gentlemen got together as businessmen, farmers, fathers, and friends for chili, cornbread, and goodies. And some real fellowship. Thanks for hosting Jon.
We have wolves in the sheep pen today. And we seem to either be afraid or unwilling to do something about it. Our media, our universities, our entertainment, and our leaders use lots of untruth to try and mislead us, control us, demoralize us, and keep us in fear. Will we have the fortitude? Do we still have enough strength as a country to take action against the wolves? And allow our grandchildren to write their stories? Thanks for the wolf Uncle Dave.
And now I share a personal struggle. When I stand at the cross on Wednesdays at early morning prayer group as a father and grandfather, Do I ask for forgiveness for being a zealot? For having doubts about our countries future? For blaming complacency to diminish our work force? Or do I pray for courage and strength to finish strong? God is in charge. What does He expect from me?
We as a crew continue to look forward to spring. After the planters, the sprayers and the tenders that haul them product are being readied for the spraying season.
Remember all our graincart troubles last fall? Well, the most damaged cart moved on. A machinery salvage company came this week to pick it up.
Last fall we had semi go down. Five months later we have our W900 Kenworth back with all new parts in the motor. Yes, the truck that went down about a month ago is there waiting as well. Thanks Brett, Stix, Mitchell, and grandsons Ethan and John.
We started tiling this past week. Spring tiling is not the most opportunistic. But it's when we have time to do it. BJ's falls are usually spent doing tiling for others. Below he is working across the road from our house with his 540 Wolfe plow.
Pattern tiling a field can cost close to a $1000/acre. Tile is getting hard to get and expensive. Yet it's return on investment still pays with more consistent field conditions in inconsistent weather years.
Fuel continues to be a concern. However prices have stopped continuing their increase for now. Energy is the backbone of our society. And we need to go back to producing our own without the politics.
Spring break is seed delivery time around here. And Karl is busy loading the semi with seed as Malaki sits behind him reading the delivery ticket.
Karl and I spent a rainy day in the cabin with the Becks team and other dealers talking about everything from current deliveries to next years new hybrids. Becks as a family and as a company have been very intentional about the focus on the customer and the customer's success, and have taken action to work hard to avoid culture and mission drift.
Mike worked all week dozing. Including a terrace for his dad to catch the runoff from the machine shed and yard across the road.
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned friends, Keith and Julie, lost a son to cancer. Jesse, his wife Kristen, and their three children lived on Kristen's family dairy in Clovis, NM. The reason I came back to this story this morning was because I was so impressed how Jesse's brother-in-laws, his uncle, his hired help, his neighbor, and his pastor talked at his funeral at a baptist church in Farwell, Texas where I watched on-line. About how he lived his life helping others by his actions and few words. The theme was "Show me, don't tell me". Being a veterinarian, Jesse came to Sioux Center in Northwest Iowa a couple of weeks this past summer to give a helping hand to a vet clinic that was short of help.
What are our action items this morning? Two fold. To act as a helping hand to others to everyone from holding my mother's hand below, to being an encourager to the hurting and broken, to loving our neighbors as much or more than we love ourselves.
And to pray. Pray for when to watch and listen. And when to act. Pray for opportunities to let Christ's light shine through the broken cracks of our lives. Pray for our grandchildren's future stories. And pray for God to be recognized and glorified, even in the current chaos of our world. Blessings. Thanks for stopping by.
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