3000 years ago King David wrote, "May your purpose be fulfilled". Psalms 20:5 How do your kids feel about you? How about your spouse, your fellow employees, your community? Were we meant for more than who we are today? When it comes time to vote, will elections matter? Are we living in the end times? Just some random questions without answers this morning. Our identity is often the devil's playground when we get down on ourselves and life.
Last Sunday morning we attended Christian Life Church in Walden, Colorado before heading back to Iowa. Newly married couple Micah and Rupa helped with the praise and worship music. We arrived home early Monday morning.
Back home we welcomed Logan, Josh, and Johnny as temporary residents to our bunkhouse across the road while they look for more permanent housing. Their apartment building in Pella burned down the previous week. They are young engineers at Vermeers. Thanks for the picture.
We also had a garden full of produce. Jan and I picked 10 gallon of green beans and then drove around and gave them away.
Karl and his family got in 10,000 head of weaner pigs this past week. He and Kristin's kids help. Malaki checks the pens every day. Sydnie and Brynn are helping throw feed on the floor of all 48 pens so the newly weaned babies learn to eat feed. Thanks for the picture Karl.
There is dignity, affirmation, and satisfaction in working. Having children help teaches them responsibility and problem solving skills that will serve them well later in their adult life no matter what vocation they choose. Elijah, Ezra, and Jackson were our lawn mowing crew on Thursday. Ezra came in with a broken mower deck. The boys found a bad center gear box, went to our John Deere dealer for parts, came back, replaced the gear box, and were back mowing in a couple of hours.
BJ, Cassia, and family have been at Nationals in Columbus, Ohio with the Pella Christian Clay Target shooting team. I'm hearing great results. The team is meeting at our cabin this evening for a meal and awards.
On Thursday evening The Family Leader staff, board, and friends got together before The Summit the next day for a Selah concert. Todd, Amy, and Allen were a joy to listen to and hang out with.
Tommorow evening at the beginning of the Southern Iowa Fair, Mark and Stacy's Amelia will be in the running for fair queen. Amelia, no matter the outcome, thanks for who you are as a young woman. She will be a senior this year at Pella Christian High School where she is president of FFA. Thanks for the picture Stacy.
Friday was the Family Leader Summit above the old Vets Auditorium. It included praise and worship with Selah, Governor Kim, and Tucker interviewing 6 presidential candidates. 2000 attendees and 150 press folks watched. The Glen Beck and Steve Deace show were live onsite. Blaze TV had exclusive rights for live feed. Below Tucker is interviewing Vivek, a 37 year old businessman from Ohio whose parents immigrated from India.
Shortly after lunch Governor Kim signed the newly repassed heartbeat bill, saving the lives of unborn children. Three judges ruled the 2018 bill unconstitutional and said it was not currently the will of Iowans. They were wrong. Selah sang their old favorite, "We Press On" while about 40 state legislatures, the press, and the audience watched. I found it a moving experience fulfilling our purpose as citizens and as a state to acknowledge God and life while much of our country has other ideas. Iowa is a great place to live.
After the Summit around 100 couples and dignitaries met at The World Food Prize Hall next to the Des Moines River downtown for supper. Gov Ron and his wife Casey from Florida, Vivek and his wife Apoorva, Steve and Amie, Gabriel and his wife from Miami, and Tucker were just a few of those we were able to interact with. Jan and I were blessed to have our friend Dawn and her dentisit friend from Arizona join us. We were also blessed to have Derrick, the executive vice president of The Heritage Foundation, join our table.
I had a neat visit earlier this week with Boomer and Bud about life. The question came up, "What's our purpose? How are we to respond in our current culture?" The divide in our country is no longer republican/democrat. The divide is between those patriotic pro Americans that acknowledge God and want to continue morals and values. And those who apologize for who we are, who are stripping folks of civil liberties, and who think and act like they are god.
We started this visit with some unanswered questions. We'll finish with a couple more. Do we live in a snitch (where we can't trust others) culture? What does a hero look like today? Is it better to listen to what folks say, or watch what they do? Is there still hope? I can answer that one. Of course there's hope. That's what faith in God is all about. I think it's a privilege to be living now for such a time as this. And when I'm gone I hope our grandkids say that yes, Grandpa was imperfect. He failed. And there were even times when he worried. But he did his job anyway to the best of his ability as a husband, father and grandfather, farmer, and friend. Blessings.
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