StillwatersIowa

"Children are a blessing and gift from the Lord". Psalms 127:3. Meet Tatum Timothy. A seven and a half pound boy. He was born late last Sunday evening. "Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior's hands. Blessings to the man who's quiver is full of them". Psalms 127:4-5. Tatum joins Malaki, Sydnie, and Brynn as part of Karl and Kristin's family. Thanks for the picture. We worked on five farms custom combining this past week. The blessing of working for others is the relationships it builds. The corn moisture is dry coming out of the field and yields are still remarkable. We have a fair amount of our own acres to go yet. Our Achilles heel all fall  has been getting the contracted bushels into the processor. BJ and Cassia's girls (Rachel, Adi, and Natalie) brought us out supper one evening. The older we get the more we realize the greatest blessings in life start with family. Suppers in the field are amazing. Pork loin, mashed potatoes ...

As a parent, spouse, fellow employee, teacher, business owner, pastor, retired, or leader of any kind, would you say you have been more inclined to inspire or intimidate those around you? We harvested soybeans yesterday with the most beautiful backdrop of fall colors southwest of Lovilia.   Are you enthusiastic, grateful, authentic, positive, and empathetic? A good listener? Do you build folks up? Are you genuinely happy when others win or succeed? During harvest, days are measured in acres, not hours. We not only watched, but experienced the most beautiful sunrises a number of mornings this past week combining corn north of Ottumwa. Because of corn receiving hours we would start early and harvest and deliver fields that were contracted to the processor. Then we would move to a job in the afternoons that had bin storage. At night we fueled up, moved back, and made sure semis were loaded and ready to repeat the process the next morning.   This 1970 IHC 856 below was my first tr...

Weak men make hard times: For almost a century America was the peacekeeper of our world. There is a huge difference by the way between a peace keeper and a peace lover. Our country's strength kept evil folks thinking twice about consequences. Then that same evil and corruption have overwhelmed our leadership. Continue praying for our friends in Israel. Thanks for the picture Amir. Hard times make strong men: Hard times often force us to our knees. To acknowledge where our help comes from. And to ask God for help. Hard times build character. Thanks for the picture Harrison and Miriam. And thanks for living for the Lord and serving others in Africa. Strong men make good times: There are folks that make things happen. Folks that watch things happen. And folks that wonder what happened. Our job as parents is to teach our children to teach their children to acknowledge, love, and serve God. That is the foundation for multi generations to continue to make things happen. How does one m...

Malaki:"Do you need unloaded Uncle BJ?" BJ: "Yep, pull under my combine auger about 3mph. "Malaki: "Copy that." Kudos and thanks to grandkids Ezra, Zach, John, and Malaki who kept the grain away from the combines when the grownups had other responsibilities. We had another productive week of harvest with long days and short nights. A huge thank you to the gals who keep home and family going. As well as coming to the fields with supper and support. Thanks for the picture Karl. Farming is trusting the unseen. The weather good or bad. Markets. Working relationships. Having faith in and knowing God is in charge. Kurt, BJ, Karl, and Dean make a plan while I'm fueling a combine. A wagon lost a tire on the highway while we were doing custom bean combining this past week. Thanks to Gary from Bill and Rays for picking up the rear of the wagon. Then BJ drove the customer's tractor to DFS elevator pulling the broken wagon and the wrecker. We updated a 20 year...