The Next Chapter

What's the next chapter? In our country? In our personal lives? Will there be troubles? Or will it be our finest hour? Or will struggles bring out our finest hour? Thanks for coming with your Dad for coffee Jade and Logan, and hanging out with Malaki.

Since we're living our stories (history), we don't know details of our coming chapters. However we can look back. And remember what and why things happened. This was our first home as a young married couple. It was north of Oskaloosa on the Glendale road which was gravel back then. Earl and Marie were our landlords. Since the house had no water source, Orid would bring us a 1000 gallon at a time with his little truck for seven dollars. We farmed Walter's farm down the road.

After three years Walter's kids decided to sell the farm. Once again the next chapter was uncertain. We looked all over for a farm. We put a bid on a farm near Albia. Before that bid was accepted Jan and I went to the Muchakinock Creek bottom, where Jan's father was dozing, to ask if he would sell the West Place. Other than God's will and Papa Gene being a good father-in-law, I'm still not sure why a 53 year old farmer would sell. He accepted our offer, wrote a 20 yr. contract with a $5000 down payment, and $20,000/yr payments including 7% interest, with a final balloon pymt.

We moved to our current home in March of 1977 after considerable cleaning up and remodeling the house for $5000. In August our first child, Mike, was born. With Jan's father's help that spring we built the Hybrid so we would have a second tractor to chore with. It was a 1957 1 ton truck front end attached to an old Graham Bradley tractor rear end. We took it to the Iowa State Fair and received 3rd place in the gadget show. Because of a drought our corn crop averaged 10 bushels per acre. Once again, the next chapter was uncertain.

In the fall of 1977 we received a call from Daryl and Rosie, who we had been doing custom work for. Daryl was hoping to run for Mahaska County Supervisor and asked If Jan and I would rent their farm 50/50 north of Rose Hill. I was 21 years old. A second blessing in our young farming career that doubled our acres.

Droughts, kids, and struggles dominated the 1980s. Corn averaged $2/bu. and soybeans $5/bu. While my three best friend's hogs were thriving, ours were dying faster than I could hire a track hoe to bury them. My burdens, stubbornest, workaholic, and finally surrender to God is a chapter for another time. Even though our next chapter was uncertain, the time was both discouraging and delightful at the same time.

Fast forward 40 years. March of 2020. A pandemic and shutting down of our country. Our country's next chapter was uncertain. Good folks needed work. After cleaning up the buildings in the above picture, we hired Rudy, Toby, Floyd, and three other ex-Amish young men to build the building below.

There are plenty of reasons to feel uncertain about 2024. It's very dry. The markets are depressed. Our culture has not only forgotten God, but is now intentionally disobeying Him. But hey, after 50 years of witnessing God's faithfulness in earlier chapters of our story, worry and fear are not our purposes. Because of the building above we can help friends get ready for spring. In 3 weeks we have the privilege of hosting our granddaughter Rachel and Carson's wedding here on the farm.

We're looking forward to spring and encouraging our customers to do the same as we deliver their seed corn. This load went to John and RJ.

Because of such a dry winter we have leveled all our ground going to soybeans, hoping to save what little moisture we have. And hoping to be timely this spring. This pic is in front of our family's billboard just north of Ottumwa.

On Palm Sunday Jesus headed for Jerusalem knowing there were troubles coming. The people knew and proclaimed Jesus was the Messiah. However they were looking for someone to save them politically and nationally. Jesus came to save them spiritually. Thanks for the picture.

It's ironic we have the same thing today. Folks are all banking on a November/2024 election to save us. Our cultural problems today can only be solved spiritually.

The church and ruling government killed Jesus that week after He rode into town. Because of those horrible troubles, one Sunday later was Christ's finest hour, and ours, when He rose from the tomb and conquered death. Make sure your life's next chapter includes Christ. He died and rose for you. He wants to be part of your next chapters for the time you have remaining on earth as well as eternity.