The Miracle Of Life

Last Sunday for Mother's Day Jan and I attended Faith Church in Pella and then had lunch with Brian and Becky's family on their farm west of Peoria. Hazel, who has four older brothers and will be in kindergarten this fall, wanted to show Grandpa a nest of robin eggs in one of their fruit trees.

I couldn't help but notice the life and energy of the season. Fruit tree blossoms, green growing grass, calves on that grass, the totally at home baby kittens we dropped off the week before, and Hazel.

The negatives of summer are bugs and weeds. The positive is the growth of everything that came to life in the spring. And the fuel for that growth is moisture and heat. While spraying for Jay and Diane's family this week I came across this bunch of flowers in their field next to a creek. I was impressed with the unplanned volunteer flower's spunk and determination in a field planned for something else and sprayed around them.

Farmers have been waiting all spring on heat for crops, and this past week it finally came with high temps in the mid 90s most of the week. Those temps make things happen. And our crops which were planted in cool and wet suddenly got the energy to push their way up out of the ground to life and the miracle of another crop season. Soil crusting can happen after a heavy rain. Some seeds were under a crust and we will evaluate plant stands tomorrow.

The sprayers were busy this week trying to control the negatives of summer, bugs and weeds. And Karl and I were occasionally on the same farms as he was spraying a bean crop and I was working on the corn.

Early in the week I was struggling getting the right amount of spray product applied per acre. No matter how much I cut back with the technology that determines rate, I would keep running out of product.

Finally after running short on three farms in a row I asked Kurt to help me figure out my issue. The flow meter below measures flow and tells valves to open or close based on my sprayer speed which is monitored by satellite. Well, this yellow obstruction was preventing the meter from doing it's job. Thanks Kurt.

Because of the heat, crops are coming out of the ground fast if they are not under a crust. So Kurt and Karl tag teamed soybean acres with two sprayers in the same field yesterday while Matt brought them product. This picture was taken on ground we rent from Marvin and Jean on the Lacey blacktop.

It's not always the same week, but there is always a week during a planting year when things just happen, and happen fast. And this past week was that week here in southern Iowa. More and more farmers are running two planters at the same time. One for corn and another for soybeans. Thanks for the picture Alex. Thanks for your long hours. And thanks for teasing Kurt. 😊

The seed shed emptied in a hurry as our planters and our seed customer's planters worked long hours. Thanks Papa John, Big John, Dean, and others for keeping the seed and fuel coming to the fields. I see jobs every day that you have selflessly done without being asked, and we not only appreciate the efforts, but the relationship and friendships. It makes this miracle of life here on earth worthwhile.

Jan visited her Amish friends yesterday. They were taking advantage of this week's window of opportunity as well. It doesn't matter if you are sitting on a farming tool behind four black horses, or in a cab with four hundred horses and technology, the miracle of life is the same. And God determines the outcome. Thanks for the picture Jan.

Amelia and Rachel welcomed cousin Malaki to FFA Ag Week at Pella Christian High School this past week during a grade school kid's visit. Thanks for the picture.

Last evening Doug and Ginger's Ben, and Mark and Stacy's foreign exchange guest Marina, had their graduation party at the cabin. Below are Marina, Carson, Natalie, Ben, Rachel, Ethan, and Emily.

Today is May 15. I received a call from Doug and Lynette that their mother Leona's CRP was needing some mid-contract attention before May 15. This is a date determined by law to protect the unborn wildlife hatch. In other words, our country has laws that prohibit work in CRP fields, so unborn pheasants, quail, and other wildlife experience the same miracle of life we see in crops, fruit trees, volunteer flowers, and Hazel's robin eggs.

Yet for 49 years we have had a law that allows and promotes babies to be killed all through pregnancy, and right up to, and in some states after birth. It sounds like that law may be repealed by the Supreme Court which resides in this building. The hate and language I see by those supporting abortions are about as evil as the procedure itself. Also the silence from those supporting life is troubling to me.

In all my days I have never seen our countries leadership try so hard to intentionally hurt it's citizens in the areas of the unborn, medical mandates, gender identity, fuel and energy restrictions, open borders, and red tape and hurdles in areas like baby formula. These are the bugs and weeds of life. What is our responsibility?

I was one year old when Marv and Jean got married. As a kid and neighbor I admired and looked up to Marvin as a farmer. He went to 30 inch rows in the 1960s. He built his own wagons out of old truck boxes. In 2007 he and Jean decided to retire and do more volunteer work. They blessed our family by asking us to rent their farm land. Jan and I would spend a week in winter visiting Marv and Jean at their Wycliffe work in Arizona. We helped them remodel a kitchen and cafeteria at Rehobeth in New Mexico. And we visited The Ark in Kentucky where they volunteered and were charter members. 

Marvin passed away Wednesday after failing health. I was thankful to be able to tell him good-bye and pray with him and Jean the night before he went to heaven. Our thoughts and prayers are with Jean, Gloria, Nathan, and the rest of Marv's siblings during this coming week. And as they move forward after his loss.

The miracle of life we experience and our contribution to it are not always thought about until after we are gone. How will folks remember me? Or you? Will it be about making a living? Or making a life? Will we be remembered for caring about things? Or caring about people? Thanks for stopping by. And thanks for all your friendships.