A Boiling Pot

This past Monday morning at our Becks Christmas get-together in Indianapolis we were introduced to Daman. We listened to his life story. Great athlete from Fort Arthur, TX. Lost his identity after sports. Gave up everything to become an addict. Did high profile crimes. Arrested. Trial and sentenced to 65 yrs. He identified trials and troubles as a boiling pot.

 

We all deal with trials and troubles to some degree or another. Half the battle is showing up. The other half is getting started. Kudos to these fellows. They made a major combine repair look routine. Mark's combine is ready for next harvest.

Speaking of routine, On cold mornings Mike always heats his dozer blade with a flame thrower to keep the frozen dirt from sticking. Thanks for the picture BJ.

BJ and Mike are both busy working on the same project for Luke. The four inches of frost in the ground this past week doesn't affect dirtwork much. Thanks for the picture.

Karl continues to schedule and haul Becks seed in to our seed shed. We are also busy with appointments helping farmers think about next crop year. We discuss seed, biological treatments, fungicides, tillage, cover crop, and ways to budget cost during depressed grain markets.

The month of December is not only for planning the next crop year, but also for evaluating the past one. Extra bushels made up for less price this past fall. In any business one needs to know where they've been, where they're at, and where they're headed. This includes marketing. Elijah and Elliot helped Grandpa load contracted soybeans yesterday to be delivered to Burlington this coming week.

Thanks for this cool picture Kurt and Emily. Their son Jackson is checking his traps. It's cold. Furs aren't worth much, however it's character building. I remember our kids getting up and checking traps before school.

This old coal furnace brought me back in time. We moved often from rented farm to farm. Several of my childhood homes had coal furnaces like this in the basement. Thanks for the picture Nate.

Back to our first story. When Daman got to prison he met an older inmate named Mohammed. Mohammed told Daman three things. Prison is about race and gang families. The strongest men in prison walk alone. And prison is a pot of boiling water.

Mohammed told Daman that he would become one of three things in this boiling pot. He would turn soft like a carrot.

Or he would turn hard like an egg, with a shell. Including his heart, like the yolk.

Or, he would become a coffee bean. In the previous two options the water changes the carrot and the egg. The coffee bean changes the water. Daman became a coffee bean. He stopped looking at his troubles as punishment. And started looking at troubles as opportunities. He changed the prison atmosphere. He was paroled in seven years and three months. He is currently a motivational speaker.

2024 was Jan and my 50th crop. I won't bore you about the old days and our share of obstacles. I will say obstacles build character. Character gives a greater perspective. A perspective of realizing our dependance on God.

How do you handle adversity in this boiling pot called life? Will you become soft and ineffective? Or will you become hard and obstinate? Or will you be a part of helping change your own and other's surroundings by seeing opportunities rather than obstacles? Blessings.