Clocks And Calendars

 In our fast paced lives today we're not all that crazy about just sitting and thinking. It's become boring. With so much news, information, entertainment, conversations, and ads at our fingertips we grab our phone or tablet. Without even thinking about it. There is nothing wrong with screens. You and I are using them right now. The question is, do we use screens, or do they use us.

The clock and the calendar are devices used to measure time. The sand in the bottom half of the hour glass is gone, the past. The sand in the top is what's coming, the future. The in-between is now, the present. Are we putting the now to good use?

The day before yesterday we turned our current calendars to the last page of the year. Last week we visited about abandoned farmsteads with 50 year old calendars on the kitchen wall. Old barns tend to measure time in their own way. Attitudes and actions need to be intentional today in order to have a barn full of good memories tomorrow.

Early this week we went to Indianapolis to attend a get-together of Becks family, dealers, and employees to celebrate Christmas. We were encouraged to give, to put our phones away occasionally, to reflect, to dream, and to find time for new relationships.

Wednesday morning we listened to Willie, from Duck Dynasty. And then had the opportunity to meet and hang out with him for a few minutes. Sometimes others lives seem to stop in our minds when we don't stay in touch even though our lives move on. Willie and his wife Corey now have seven grandchildren.

BJ and crew just moved to a tiling project where they are putting in a 15 inch dual wall main starting at 11 feet deep for a half a mile. A main is a tile that others run into. And everything is on grade so water can run downhill. Thanks for the picture.

Tiling is one of the last jobs winter in Iowa stops. A large tile plow is basically a knife that puts the tile in the ground, GPS that keeps the right grade, and horsepower. Thanks for the picture.

Ezra and Elijah chiseled a field on the north edge of Ottumwa yesterday. They left a large area we still hope to tile yet this fall.

Yesterday morning Karl chiseled some cornstalks going back to corn next year around his place. In the afternoon he and his family headed north to help folks with next years seed needs.

We have a list of shop jobs waiting as soon as grain hauling and fieldwork are caught up. Karl ordered brakes and drums for a semi we're working on.

Mike spent Saturday in the skidloader working around some new concrete and burning brush piles. Thanks for the picture Suzanne.

I happened to grab a picture of one of our families billboards yesterday while checking on Ezra and Elijah. It says, Take the time to be a Dad. Kurt took that little guy deer hunting yesterday. 

The Bible is a story about Christ's redemptive work. His-story. The Old Testament is past, the sand in the bottom of the glass looking forward to Christ's coming. The New Testament is the sand in the top and is on-going from Christ's birth till the future of the end of time as we know it here today. The center, the now, is Christmas. Let's make the best use of our time before we run out of sand.