Kinship

There are acquaintances. There are connections. There are relationships. Then there's kinships. Kinship is a special connection with someone. You could be related. Amish folks call their children and grandchildren "kinner". It could be the folks you work with or hang out with at school every day. Or it could just be a friendship that developed.

The roads are getting wide enough from 2 week old snow drifts for semis. So Mike picked up his dozer from the field and took it to get a new undercarriage. Thanks for the picture Mike.

Jan and I have been enjoying the special warmth of a woodstove in our home this winter. The problem was I didn't prepare very well. And our split wood wagon was getting empty. A special thank you to my brother-in-law Roger, who brought us a supply of dry split hard wood. Roger is also one of our county road crew who worked day and night to get our roads opened back up a couple of weeks ago.

We had a stove shuffle yesterday after one of our glass stove top shattered in the cabin. Below Roger, Ezra, and Elijah are changing to electric cord to match the 220 outlet. Jan bought a new stove for our kitchen with both convection and an air fryer in the oven part.

With both Malaki and Sydnie in school, Brynn has a kinship with her Dad and is always asking him if she can help in the pig barn. Thanks for the picture Karl. Karl and Kristin's youngest, Tatum, is being baptized in church this morning with everyone coming to the cabin for lunch afterwards.

Kurt and Emily's, Lane, Jayden, and Jackson, have the responsibility of checking the cow waterer and making sure all the mama cows are ok. Thanks for the picture Kurt.

This past week the Pella Christian High FFA class helped Farm Bureau by building some educational displays. The class includes a number of our grandkids. Thanks for the picture Jill.

Elizabeth and I had sort of a kinship. Every week while visiting my own mother at Osky Care Center, I would stop by Elizabeth and other's table during breakfast and visit. She loved cheerios with lots of cinnamon and sugar. Last Saturday I stopped and asked her about the Amish book she was reading as she was shuffling herself to the cafeteria in her wheelchair. I was surprised to read an email that she was in Hospice just a few hours later, and passed away last Sunday.

Jesse and Leah, and Jan and I, met and became friends earlier this year. Jesse was a speaker at the Cow/Calf Conference in Ottumwa yesterday. Talking about utilizing high marbling genetics using Wagyu/Akaushi bulls. I'm sure you've heard or seen Wagyu beef in the grocery store. Wagyu means Japanese cow. If your interested in purchasing Wagyu beef directly from the producer, check out J and L Farms, West Point, Iowa. Thanks for the friendship Jesse.

This is the time of year when we look where we've been, where we're at, and where we're headed. I'm talking year end bookkeeping. Looking back is wrapping up the 2023 crop year with yields, sales, and taxes. Where we're at is the balance sheet which shows whether we gained or lost from a year ago. And looking forward is putting together a projected cash flow for the 2024 crop season. This is not only necessary for good business, it's required for those of us that borrow money for crop inputs. And a good relationship with our banker partners.

How would you describe your correlation with God? An acquaintance, a connection, a relationship, or a kinship? I know kinship is not a "spiritual" description we're used to. However remember the stories in the Bible about a "kinsman redeemer"? That's someone who at his own expense pays the debt of another. God is our Kinsman Redeemer, paying our sin debt if we accept that gift. Since God is also Creator and in charge of everything, including our politics and chaos, it would do us well to have a close relationship with Him in a bumpy new year. Blessings.