Intimidate Or Inspire

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 tractor purchased in the fall of 1973 during a very inflationary time. I was a senior in high school. We updated to a bigger tractor in 1976. In 1998 we bought this tractor back and still use it today.

Breakdowns can be intimidating. And we've had a number of semi breakdowns. Thanks to Bill and Rays for towing us off the road. Thanks to Outer Limits, Adam Valley View Farms, and grandson Ethan for getting us back on the road again.

Supper delivered to the field, even when we are in unfamiliar territory to the gals, is inspiring. Thanks Emily, Kristin, Cassia, Natalie, and families for hunting us up and feeding us.

Thanks to Dean, Big John, Ezra, Elijah, Zach, and Jackson for keeping the grain away from the combines.

Mike is busy building large farm-over broad-base terraces north of Rose Hill.

Mark and his family are working on repairing some spots on a reclaimed coalmine job. Thanks for the picture Mark.

Last Sunday morning after writing this visit and getting ready for church, I told Jan that my post wasn't a warm feel-good kind of a story. My goal was to encourage folks to think. It worked. Last night while looking through my week of pictures I noticed a comment on the Blogger platform. It was an anonymous death threat. I'm guessing the reader was more upset about my state of our country comments than my farming practices. I'm also guessing a threat is probably more intended to intimidate than to actually take a life.

We saw just as many sunsets as sunrises this past week. Last night Zach and I saw this huge falling star and it's long trail. We've all been inspired by and posted pictures of rainbows. This was the week in southern Iowa for fall colors. Everyone of these spectaculars in nature is a promise from God that He created and is in charge of the universe. And that He cares enough about each and every one of us to show us snapshots of His glory. It's still faith over fear folks. How the pandemic was handled was intended to intimidate and control. Let's with God's help inspire and serve.