The Heart Of The Matter

 I left church that night with a truck full of snow, a heart full of love, and a mind full of goals. Yep, it snowed that Friday night, March 7, 1975. And folks had fun cleaning the whole Central Reformed Church yard in order to fill our truck.

I was convinced I had married the finest girl in the country that night. And just as pretty on the inside as out. She knew how to drive tractor. She grew up driving green. I had driven red by myself doing fieldwork since I was in fourth grade. We went to NW Iowa over the weekend for our honeymoon.

As far as a mind full of goals, we rented a house on the Glendale Road from Earl and Marie for $75/month. We had an FHA farm loan for the farm we rented. I had went to the manager of Farm Service, and with my head full of self doubt, asked Howard if he had any customwork so I could support my wife. Howard said,"Son, don't ever put yourself down. I think we might have work for you". I went home and bought a set of duals for $150 for our IHC 856 without a cab. We worked day and night for Farm Service with Jan bringing me diesel for our tractor's 40 gallon diesel tank.

However the heart of the matter was little did we know those first dozen years would feel somewhat less than a happily ever after story. You see, my folks weren't exactly crazy about their firstborn getting married at 18 yrs old. Plus, back then young folks were expected to marry within their same church denomination. And my parents were a little miffed that their Christian Reformed son married a Reformed gal. 😊 I know. Kind of like the Amish boys jumping the fence and hanging out with their Mennonite cousins. So we walked on eggshells with my folks for a couple of years. 1977 was the first of 5 droughts and short crops. Then inflation stopped, interest rates went to 22%, and we had a farm crisis unequaled in 50 years.

48 years later to the day, we hosted a planter clinic in our farm shop. A big thank you to the presenters, those that attended, and the gals for making and serving lunch.

Early in the week we worked at cleaning and burning trees. We also laid out a pond, hopefully for summer construction.

We had typical March weather for southern Iowa this past week. With some days cloudy and 50 temps. And others chilly and snow.

So we spent much of the snowy days in the shop. Below we are replacing disc openers, closing wheel bushings, and new brushes on the speed tubes on this corn planter. We replaced the no till coulters on our bean planter. And we got the drill ready for spring seeding.

However I'm going to pass on more shop work details to tell you a couple of stories leftover from our Arizona visit. The night before Jan and I visited the wall around 200 illegals crossed into our country. The sheriff says some nights it's a thousand. Cartels hire kids to smuggle in drugs since our government doesn't charge children. The Yuma area supplies around 90% of our leafy greens this time a year. They have spent $70,000 on portable toilets by the wall since the illegals have been using the bathroom in our lettuce.

Yuma hospital spent around $26,000,000 in uncompensated care for the wave of illegal immigrants that swamp the hospital in the last year. American residents are being crowded out of the medical care they need. There are 100,000 residents in Yuma. And 300,000 illegal folks have come across the border there in the last two years. There is no room for complicated pregnancies since immigrants have had no prenatal care and require extended stays. The Yuma hospital is on the verge of bankruptcy.

The House Judiciary Committee held a field hearing in Yuma on the problem the weekend we were there. Rep Jim Jordan chaired this hearing after a visit through the area. The left leaning politicians that decided not to enforce our borders refused to attend this hearing to help find a solution. This is not just a Yuma problem. This is an American problem. Someone said that a country that does not enforce it's borders does not last long as a country.

A more positive story. When I was on the New Campus Committee for Pella Christian High School we were asked early on in the process to dream about a new high school and then put our ideas on paper. On a visit to Arizona in 2000 Jan and I visited this high school in Chandler, AZ. which was new at the time. A number of the ideas from this high school were incorporated in Pella Christian's new campus. Chandler is growing so fast it has built at least two more high schools since. Jan and I stopped here again on our recent visit just for old times sake.

These boys are looking at a large plat map we have in our shop. Pointing to where their Daddy's farms are. History tends to repeat itself. Often in 50 year cycles. Our country grew fast in the roaring 1920s. Followed by the Great Depression our grandparents endured in the 1930s. I have just retold our story about the inflationary years of the 1970s. Followed by ten years of Farm Crisis during the 1980s. Today we are again in an out of control inflation situation. What will our future hold for these young men in the picture below.

I'm not sure what the future holds. However I am sure Who holds the future. And that my friends puts a positive twist on things. And is worth smiling about. Little Sydnie is a joy to be around while she tools around in her wheel chair waiting for her broken leg to heal. Thanks for the picture Kristin.

Jan and I were pretty much kids ourselves 48 years ago. We went to Bogies in Albia last evening to celebrate and remember those years together. So, what have I learned in the last 50 years? I started out with a mind full of goals wanting to be successful. To show my new bride and others I was good enough. Those first dozen years God taught me He first of all wanted me to be faithful. To Him. To Jan and my family. To my friends and others. And yes, finally to my love of farming. If we are still a country 50 years from now I hope our great-grandchildren read this Sunday morning story and say, Yea God. That friends is the heart of the matter.