Memorial Day

I had planned on finishing planting soybeans today, but the Lord and weather had other plans for us.

I am grateful for the blessings and freedoms we enjoy in this country, and for those who sacrificed to make this all possible.

I am grateful for the spiritual heritage that has been preserved for this generation, for the spiritual sacrifices made on our behalf, and for the freedom we have in Christ.

And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.
Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices over your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the Lord your God.
Numbers 10:9,10

And the blood shall be to you a token upon the houses where you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever.
Exodus 12:13,14

Buckle Up

We haven't been in the field for a couple of weeks and we still have soybeans to plant. Tuesday we got 2.4 inches of rain at home, so it will be a few more days before we can finish here. This afternoon though, we were able to finish a field south of Eureka that we had started before all the rain. On my last round, as I was heading front towards the road, I ran out of soybeans. I got out of the cab to check the boxes, then got back in to drive front to get more beans. As I started front I noticed a car out in our field. The closer I got I could see that it had rolled a couple of times and there were car parts strewn around. At first I thought it was Miss Syndram's little red sports car, and I was worried. Her family lives next to our field. Then I saw a young man milling around talking on his cell phone. "Good, I thought, he had his seat belt on and he didn't get hurt." But then I realized by his shirt that he was an employee from the business across the road, and there was a body on the ground. The young man driving the little red sports car did not have his seat belt on and he was thrown from the car (and out of his shoes).I ran up to the body and tried to assess his condition and keep him from moving. I was handed the cell phone and gave information about location and condition to the dispatcher. It wasn't another two minutes and sirens were coming down the road. The EMT's and police took over while we started picking up car parts. After the ambulance, police, and tow truck were all gone, I was able to finish the last round and head back home. I hope the young man doesn't have any serious injuries.

Fasten your seatbelts!

Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
Proverbs 27:1

B & N

I took my wife and daughter out to Red Lobster last night. We dropped into Barnes & Noble afterwards to do a little shopping and I came out with no books! And it was my birthday!
But a couple days ago my son-in-law had brought me three bags of Louis L'Amour books to read, so I really am not lacking for reading material.

Daughter#1 made me a popcorn cake, my wife made me a cherry pie, and daughter#2 sprang for a quart of DQ ice cream to top the pie.
I am a happy man.

Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.
Psalm 144:15

Leak

I was in the farmyard scooping up a pile of spilled corn that had gotten rained on and was rotting, when my cell phone rang. It was my daughter calling from the basement excitedly telling me that there was a water pipe that was spraying water all over. "There's a blue knob, but I don't know which way to turn it!"
I mounted my white steed and rode on up to the house in my shining armor, ready to save the day.

Well, maybe I strolled up to the house in my dirty work shoes.

Down in the utility room, water was running across the floor and everything that was on the floor (rugs, laundry, etc.) was soaking wet. How was I greeted? "You stink!"
Yes, I had the smell of wet rotting corn on my shoes.
Anyway, I shut off the water valve and stopped the flow from the culprit pipe that had corroded through. I collected my tools and started disassembly. After searching our shop for the fitting needed, I realized I would be making a trip to town. After all, what is a plumbing project without at least one trip to the hardware store? Thanks to the helpful hardware man at Ace, I was in and out of the store in minutes and back home to face the task. It took some filing and fitting work in the shop to get the new fitting to work with the old fitting and pipes, but I got it put back together again, and the repairs don't leak.
And the water is back on.

He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
Psalm 78:16

Mother's Day

I slept in yesterday morning! Until 8:00. That's the latest I have slept in since vacation last summer. I still took a nap after church. Life is good.
Our two daughters cooked our Mother's Day dinner for us. They did a great job. Grilled chicken breasts and two kinds of pie.


An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy. ~Spanish Proverb

All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his. ~Oscar Wilde

Women's liberation is just a lot of foolishness. It's the men who are discriminated against. They can't bear children. And no one's likely to do anything about it. ~Golda Meir

Today, I spent 5 hours helping fix broken field tile at our farm farthest away from home. Then we were rained out before we finished planting a field with soybeans that we had hoped to finish today. Soybean planting is going much slower than corn planting did.



And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
Matthew 12:49

Peace

We received an email from son#2 this week that said:

"I have peace with God my Father."

What great news. What a wonderful blessing. We thank the Lord.

We finished planting corn on April 30, about ideal timing. It's been several years since we finished in April, and it is nice to have a "normal" spring. We were then blessed with a nice rain. The early planted corn is all coming up nicely. We started planting soybeans but quit as the next rain front moved in. As soon as it dries out now we will try to get a lot of beans in the ground.

What ever happened to modesty?
It's prom season and based on the pictures posted all over Facebook, a lot of dresses aren't all there. It's disappointing to see normally modest girls, some even professing Christians (and I'm not judging) displaying so much flesh. Wendy Shalit and others have written some good books on the subject, and Wendy has a group blog.

Therefore being justified by Faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:1