StillwatersIowa

Last Sunday after church my sister Donna and her husband Roger picked up some KFC. Ginger and my brother Doug, and Julie and my brother Bill brought dishes from home. Jan and I brought some of those really good potatoes from Taco Johns. And we had lunch with our Mother in the activity room where she lives at Oskaloosa Care Center. Because of Mom's age her listening abilities are more limited than they used to be. So she just enjoys being around family. Last Monday afternoon we had a beautiful inch of rain. So early Tuesday morning the office was full as we enjoyed coffee and conversation. We were created for relationships. That includes being a good listener. Since the ground was wet for a short day. And since our corn harvest was mostly custom work, we brought in a couple of chisels and replaced some bearings. Last week we visited about tire troubles. We ended up replacing the rear tires on our S690 combine. Thanks to Steve from Midtown for manhandling those big guys on the rim wh...

The hills are alive with fall color of red, orange, and brown. Our lush growing green is gone. We have had a killing frost. We know from our past, winter is coming. We are now in a season we call Indian Summer. We are working hard at wrapping up corn harvest. Jim is unloading corn at Kurt and Emily's place. Indian summer is a gift. It often means we are on borrowed time. There is a sense of urgency to get the harvest in, to get projects finished, to prepare for winter. Lane is helping his Mom, Emily, scoop up some spilled corn. Thanks for the picture Kurt. Kudos to our grandkids for helping along side of their other responsibilities. Gideon and Ethan replaced a clutch in one of our semis. Ezra worked along side Matt and I yesterday. The younger kids help their parents. Below John stayed home from school to keep our second graincart running. Rachel gave me a ride to Pella. Seth and Jenny's family is using our grandkid combine this week to get their corn out near Monroe. Below th...

A story is told in the Bible about a landowner who was going to be gone for a period of time. He called his help together for instructions while he was away. He entrusted the first of his helpers five talents (opportunities). The second two. And the last helper he gave one opportunity. The landowner asked them all to make the most of what he had entrusted to them. After a long time the landowner returned from his trip. He gathered his help and asked them to give him an account of what they had done with their opportunities. The first said he taken his five opportunities and made five more. The landowner said, "Good job, you have honored me by being productive". The second helper said he had doubled his two opportunities. The landowner said, "Well done, that's what I mean by being fruitful. You have been faithful in small things. I will make you responsible for bigger things. Let's celebrate". The last helper admitted he hadn't used his talent. That he wa...

While harvesting soybeans on the east edge of Oskaloosa on Friday the 2-way radio was active with conversation. Mark and Stacy's family were combining south of Givin on Buddy and Eileen's farm. John was conversing with his Dad, BJ, and Uncle Karl, as they were taking out soybeans east of Lacey. And I had to smile to myself as I heard Jackson, below, tell Pablo who was trucking, he needed another little bit of beans from his Dad's combine, where they were working northeast of New Sharon, before he could load the semi. Jackson is in 3rd grade. Back in the early 1980s a picture of two little boys came out with the caption, "You been farming long". Yesterday cousins Malaki and Jackson catch up on farming before they head to the fields with their Dads. Thanks for the picture Kurt. Kudos to Cassia, Emily, Kristin, and even Dean's wife Connie, for supper in the field. Family, working with friends, and watching grandkids learn responsibility is a blessing. I personall...