StillwatersIowa

Every day the sun comes up we have choices. What needs done today? Will we choose to be positive or negative on accomplishments? Will we compliment or criticize? Will we see the glass half full or half empty? At the end of today, who did we benefit? This past Tuesday we hosted an excellent planter clinic. Clayton reminded us about dozens of planter parts and settings that need checked or replaced to help insure a good start to our crop year. Kudos to family for making and serving over 100 pizzas and dozens of desserts. Thanks to good help for keeping the coffee filled, making popcorn, finding extra chairs, and helping clean up.  Some high school grandkids and their friends asked their parents for an excuse to take a half a day of school off to join us. Below grandson Tatum and great-grand-daughter Oakley are sitting on the seed treatment hay rack sharing popcorn. Thanks for the picture Kristin. Alex and Kasey worked on tile fixes. Sometimes an old clay tile breaks. Sometimes a rode...

On Friday afternoon my phone dinged and there was a message from Barb saying she (state rep) and Mike (sec of ag) were going to meet Ken (state senator) at Gideon and Emily's Sully Locker and Meat Market. Thanks for the picture. Kudos to Gid and Em and their little family for honoring God and blessing others in the 2nd year of their business venture. Gideon and Emily had a family addition in recent weeks. Eleanor joined her older sister Oakley February 3. Oakley is introducing little Ellie to Great-Grandma Jan last Sunday at church. Jan has 2 siblings. Friday evening we met Donna and Arlin, and Paul and Gayle, for Paul's birthday. It was fun catching up. Paul and his son have a drone business and spray crops and pastures. I have 2 living brothers and 2 sisters. We got together last Sunday evening for pizza at Bill and Julie's house while Beth and Dan were visiting Iowa. Our mother resides in assisted living. Our father and brother Dan are both in heaven. We have 2 pieces of...

Last Sunday during the alternative halftime show, Kid Rock borrowed and sang a country song about doing things with the ones you love, 'Til You Can't. Here's one of the verses. "There's a box of greasy parts sitting in the trunk of that 65. Still waiting on you and your Granddad to bring it back to life. You can always get around to fixing up that Pontiac, 'til you can't". Below, our kids were helping repair the motor on the only reliable vehicle we owned in the 1980s. Here's another verse. "You can keep putting off forever with that girl who's heart you hold. Swearing that you'll ask some day further down the road. You can always put a diamond on her hand, 'til you can't". Below, was one of Jan and I's early dates in the summer of 1973. I had finished my junior year of high school. Jan had just graduated. Mark and Stacy's, Elijah, a junior in high school, helped Friday and Saturday clean up a 2004 JD 8420. Last we...

A long time ago, actually in the very beginning of time, God created a man. Then Lord God said, "It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him" Genesis 2:18 We are also made in God's image. Part, or much of that likeness, is ability to have relationships. Relationships are the foundation of community. The weather in southern Iowa has been great for hauling and spreading ag lime. Lime is necessary to keep our soils at the proper ph level for growing crops. Lime is finely crushed stone, and is mined out of the earth. We are shooting for 3 ton/acre.   Lime depletes from the soil slowly. So added lime regenerates the soil slowly. A long time ago I would use my father-in-laws lime spreader. We would spray the inside of the box with diesel so the product wouldn't freeze in the corners, drive to the quarry, load 8 ton, and drive home and spread the fields. Back then, spreading 20 acres was a big day. Today technology runs the steering whe...

Have you ever noticed or experienced that life after winning seems to be followed by a letdown? Examples are: harvest is in, 2025 is over, the season has peaked, and winter is here. It's tempting for life to get flat. Winning removes the pressure. It can also remove focus. In the Bible, Elijah defeats the prophets of Baal, a God glorifying win. Shortly afterwards he is down in the dumps, and asks to die. Moses miraculously crosses the Red Sea, only to lose his temper on a rebellious people. David wins many battles including Goliah, and then fails badly with Bathsheba. Hezekiah survives sickness and war, only to lose at the end with pride.  Pattern tiling is a win, until winter comes. That doesn't mean a tile investment is a failure. It means we live, and expect another win. However God uses winters. Elijah didn't meet God at the fire and burnt offering. He met him after his collapse. David wasn't restored during his wins, but after repentance. God doesn't always mee...