Record Of The Seers

In the 20 book series of historical fiction, Lauraine Snelling writes about her Norwegian ancestors immigrating, and farming in the Red River Valley in the Dakota territories. Her stories take place from 1880 to 1905. I'm up to reading book 18 in this series. Her stories are a record of triumph, tragedy, hard work, love, family, and God's faithfulness.

After a three week break from harvesting, we have again gotten the combines out. We are helping a family in Keokuk County harvest their crops. Due to our recent rains, the fields are solid but muddy. Corn moisture has risen 2 to 4 points. Yields and stands are still good.

 

This past Monday was Veterans Day. Mike was invited to Pella Christian Grade School to answer questions from teachers and kids, including Kurt and Emily's Jackson, about his time as a Marine 30 years ago. They took this picture in front of a World War II memorial, where my mother's brother Germ is one of many remembered. Thanks for the picture.

We finished hauling hog manure this past week. We worked on applying NH3 for next years corn crop as the weather allowed. Kasey helped Mike build terraces with Mike's second dozer. BJ and his son John are busy tiling. And Kurt, Ezra, and Elijah chiseled corn stalks on fields going to corn again next year.

When Jan and I were first married I would do custom fall plowing for others. I used a 5 bottom plow, a swath just over 6 ft. At night as I would put the right front tire in the previous furrow, I would huddle down behind my heat houser, trying to stay warm. A heat houser was canvas placed along both sides of the tractor, trying to push heat from the engine compartment back to the driver. You often had to also cover the grill with a feed sack.

Kurt's boys are helping him adjust the leveling baskets up so they don't fill with mud. When our kids were small I had widened the tractor operator platform so they would have a place to stand when they rode in the field with me. Not the safest. I often had small kids on my lap in the seat as they got sleepy. Thanks for the picture Emily.

Mike and Suzanne's Cody had interviews this week at a medical school in Nashville, TN. He is a senior at Dordt University in Sioux Center, Iowa where he plays football. He and his fiancé, Tori, are to be married next summer. Thanks for the picture Suzanne.

If you've ever read the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles in the Bible, you'll find they are a record of a people who immigrated from Egypt to their promised land. The stories, among other things are stories of leaders, battles, failures, triumphs, tragedies, and God's faithfulness. Often when the story ends it will say something like, "As for the rest of the events and acts, they are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel". In Manasseh's story it adds, "Manasseh's prayer, the way God answered him, and an account of all his sins and unfaithfulness are recorded in the Record of the Seers".

So we know the definition of records. What's a seer? A seer was and is one who has wisdom, which is God-given. Someone who read and understood the scriptures. And someone who could discern and understand current events. The Bible often includes prophets in this category. However more in the terms of one who had relationships with people and understood God's faithfulness rather than one who foretold the future.

Last Sunday evening, just before Mom's supper time, we stopped, introduced Mom to her great-great-granddaughter Oakley, and took a 5 generation picture. If Oakley would become an author, she would write a story about a family, who in this picture, started with the daughter of parents who immigrated from Holland to a new land called the United States, and settled and farmed in Iowa. It would be a record of triumph, tragedy, hard work, love, family, and God's faithfulness.

You all have a story. Our stories combined, along with God's faithfulness, are called His story (history). If a seer were to record our stories, what would they record? Yes, a story of failure and mistakes. But hopefully also a story of prayer, like Manasseh. A story of forgiveness and promise. And maybe a story of caring and generosity. And if our name is recorded in the Book of Life, a story of eternal life after our time on earth. Blessings.