Promises

It's hard not to visit about promises when we see such glorious colors in the sky, and remembering the meaning of those colors. A clear night sky full of stars remind us of God's power. A partial red moon last week showing through a gloomy, cloudy sky reminds us of God's presence. A rainbow after a hard rain this past Wednesday evening reminds us of God's promise.

We had another wet week in southern Iowa. Actually the 3rd one in a row. The old wives' tale is proving true about the promise of rain 100 days after a fog. Remember we had a lot of foggy mornings in January. Below the blossoms are promising a good cherry crop.

These planters have been sitting for close to 3 weeks. With our current forecast I'm hoping we can run two sprayers tomorrow (Monday), and be rocking and rolling again with the planters on Tuesday.

I picked a poor time of day to get a photo of emerged soybeans. However they came up in two weeks and are starting to show up in the row.

Thanks for the picture Kristin. Karl and family worked on seed deliveries and organizing the seed shed this past week. Taking the time to work along side and use our younger helpers promises an upcoming generation that will be assets in whatever they choose to do as adults.

Extra curricular activities at school also help the discipline, teamwork, and growing up process of young folks. This week provided an opportunity to go watch several grandkids and their teammates compete in a track meet last Tuesday evening, including them break a couple of school records.

Wet weeks sometimes give us the opportunity to do less important jobs. Like starting and cleaning up older tractors after they have been sitting all winter. Below is a 1971 JD 4020 (sticker price $10,000), a 1971 IHC 1456 (original sticker price $12,000), and a 1976 Ford 7600 (sticker price $13,000). These were the workhorses 50 yrs ago. The sticker prices on today's workhorses are from $500,000 to $900,000. That's a 5000% price increase in 50 yrs, with crop prices increasing around 50% during that same time frame.

We finished putting up our pallet racking in the shop across the road and now are busy sorting and organizing.

We have lost a couple of friends and fellow blog family members this past month. Linda was married to my oldest cousin Dick who passed away in 2018. Jan and I stopped by Owen's room and took this picture one Sunday earlier this year while also visiting our former landlady, Esther, who lived in the room next to Owen. Both loved the Lord and had the promise of heaven.

In Genesis 9 God first set a rainbow in the sky when He promised Noah no more flooding the whole earth. It was also a promise then and now of God's redeeming grace and mercy. God's promises also include our protection and  provision. He promises the Holy Spirit to speak for us when we are unsure how to pray, and promises those prayers will be answered. God gives us nudges, part of the promise of our purpose. He gives us wisdom if we ask. And finally God is our living hope with the promise of heaven if we accept His gift of salvation for our wrongdoings. Blessings.