Cornerstones

Cornerstones are the start of foundations. They shape and set the direction for the rest of the project. They are also used for boundaries. Capstones protect and keep unwanted material from coming in and destroying from the inside out. Keystones lock the other pieces in place and distribute the load equally to all. Standing stones are a reminder for those who come behind us of blessings, faithfulness, events, and accomplishments. 

Lane, Jackson, and Jayden, riding Grandpa's Scrambler, are being taught these values and life skills now so they can in turn teach them to their kids for a strong family structure that will stand the storms.

I've always told Jan if she is going to have stones on our yard they either need a name or have sentimental value. We have a number of large stones. This is our borrowed stone. Some years ago we found this one building a pond on one of BJ's farms. It was so heavy we barely got it to the edge of the field along the road. Months later we noticed it missing. Months after that we noticed it on someone's yard and asked if we could have it back. 😊

Monday several grandkids helped Jan pick cherries. They picked a two gallon bucket just about full.

Jan made sure they all had cherry pie filling to take home with them. Thanks for the picture Jan.

On the farming front Karl and Kurt continued to work at finishing up spraying second pass soybeans.

Alex worked at wrapping up custom spreading urea on corn acres. We were blessed with rain this past week which helps incorporate the nitrogen in the soil structure.

BJ and John continued mowing, baling, and collecting grass hay on pastures, waterways, and field strips. Jim and Dean worked on equipment repairs. Alex and Pablo hauled grain from Albia to Burlington.

 Whenever times allows we jump in one of our batwing mowers and work on keeping things looking neat. We even did a little custom bean planting early last week.

This is the Morgan stone we visited about a couple of weeks ago. Kurt and his boys got it home for Jan. I'm intrigued by how old some of these stones are. I want to think they have been around since creation and are now being seen and enjoyed for the first time. I googled the age of a rock. The internet said rocks can be up to 4 billion years old😕, so I'm thinking my thoughts of them being 6000 years old isn't as far fetched as first thought.

Our summer is flying by and it's hard to believe that it has been four weeks ago already that we baled first cutting alfalfa on Memorial Day. BJ mowed our second cutting yesterday.

We have lots of guests come use our cabin and occasionally folks will want to experience farm life and ask for a Ranger ride just to look around. So we have a series of trails through pastures, creeks, timber, and yes, now a corn field. Last evening I tilled a five foot path across a field just to watch and enjoy the crop progress.

While tilling that path I saw our first corn tassel of the year. Black layer, which means the grain on ears of corn are fully mature, is about 60 days after full tassel. This is a hundred acre field of corn on corn planted on April 12 to Becks 5507, a 105 day hybrid. Adding nitrogen to corn at around pop can height also speeds up maturity.

About 15 years ago when we were building the new Pella Christian High School campus we added standing stones to the campus to remember God's faithfulness. And remind those who follow us of their previous generation's passion for an education based on Christian cornerstone  values.

I was 16 years old when the Supreme Court egregiously made killing unborn babies legal in our country by a 7 to 2 vote. I remember folks saying this would be a safer, cleaner way than the back room illegal procedures. I remember hearing of local folks going to Kansas City to terminate a pregnancy.

In the last 50 years 62 million lives have been snuffed out. Children are such a blessing, even the unplanned ones. And they don't restrict our lives. They enhance them.

Friday, on my 66th birthday, the Supreme Court overturned a right to take the life of an unborn. Taking life is not a national law. It's not a state law like many are saying. It's God's law and it's wrong.

I know some of you aren't sure how you feel about this. And a few of you think we are turning the clock back 50 years. There are things we can disagree on and I can still discuss things with you about war or peace, capital punishment or life imprisonment, the economy and taxes, even capitalism verses communism. But there are some cornerstones of our culture that I can't compromise on. And one of them is protecting life.

For years folks have been praying for this overturn and giving millions of dollars to pro-life groups and adoption agencies to counteract this wrong. Now what? I think this is a huge opportunity for the church to be the church and reflect Christ's love and light to all involved. Groups like The Family Leader (below) have been active at working with elected officials, with other conservative groups, and working to engage Christians to be a light in this arena. To keep the cornerstones of our culture in place. It has made a difference in our state of Iowa and twenty other states are asking for help and direction.

This cornerstone with the cross in the background sits on Cornerstone Church's front yard in Pella. Kurt and his son Jackson moved it here with our heavy equipment. This picture represents "The Rock Of Our Salvation". However being content going to Heaven, putting life in neutral, and hoping things continue to change will not work. We were created for a purpose since the beginning of time, just like these stones, to be part of the process. And then, part of the outcome. Blessings.