3 Ag Links

A college friend wrote a very nice piece about their Nebraska branding. I like her pictures too!

My cousin brought this Ann Voskamp article about her planting season experiences to my attention.  I like it for several reasons. 1. It makes me glad Brad’s planting hours are more 6ish-8:30ish, since he doesn’t like to plant in the dark. 2. She describes her husband and son digging in the ground to check for the seed. Brad and Elliana did that together once this year. I didn’t get to witness it, but Voskamp’s description makes me feel like I did. 3. The post has several great points. Here’s one… “Be still and know He is God. And once you know He is God… how can you not let other people know? Experience Him? Know. Him? There’s simplicity for a soul: Stilling. Knowing. Then Going.”

Here’s an informative post that tells you the average cost of corn planting! Yikes!

Side note: I went by the irrigated corn Brad planted and it’s up!

Farming on the 5′s

It’s planting season. Brad’s on his third full week of planting and is about 3/4 done. He has already finished with his irrigated and dry land corn and planted some for another farmer. Today he started planting for another farmer. He should be done planting in less than a week, unless God answers our prayers for more rain.

I was in the “big city” today, so I did my version of bringing food to the field. It was hot and ready when I bought it, and I think he still enjoyed it by the time we got it to the field an hour and a half later.

Thankfully he was in a rush to get back to planting. The bucket of ice cream I bought over an hour and a half ago needed to find a freezer.

I did snap one quick picture of the dead coyote in the field before I left. I took the howling of his living relatives I heard just one minute ago as a sign I needed to show it to you. For all the ranchers who read this blog:

You think Brad will just plant right over that? I’m not sure how his trash whippers are going to handle those bones.

Memories of Our Mom

My mom continues to be a great mom, but Mother’s Day made me start trying to remember what I remember of her from my childhood. I’ve decided I have a pathetic memory, but I do have a few fond memories and I enlisted the help of my siblings.

Here’s what we remember about our mom from when we were kids…

She could cut up a whole chicken and make chicken and rice with great crunchies around the edges of the pan.

We went on many walks around the block together and bike rides around the neighborhood.

She read the Readers Digest or Guidepost aloud while I sat right next to her on the couch.

She had to figure out what to do with her screaming son in the Wal-Mart check out line. Even back then it was terrible place to be.

She canned beans and tomatoes and dilly beans.

She would braid my hair during church when I’d put my head in her lap.

She was never crabby.

She left us a list of things to do on the summer days when we were home and she was working.

She taught us all to cook. It was amazing how much better she could mix cake batter or cookie dough than us and she didn’t even have to follow the recipe exactly.

She patiently taught her girls to sew.

She always could whip up a wacky cake when company was coming at last minute notice.

She played flute and we’d sing around the piano.

She helped with AWANA.

She didn’t complain as far as we can remember.

She modeled by her actions more than her words.

Never whined about or bad mouthed Dad.

She did have moments of sadness, one of which was at the funeral of her infant son, Jay. At his funeral we sang Great is Thy Faithfulness.  Looking back we see it as such a testament to trusting in God despite the pain.

I remember making her cry because I was such a rude teenager to her.

We all will never let her forget when she yelled “Whoop Whoop!” at one of Luke’s basketball games for everyone to hear.

We have great reason to rise up and call her blessed.

Keep an eye on the comments because we may think of more memories to add. I’d love to hear memories you have of your mom and/or some you have of mine!

Bathroom Remodel

Before (and before I could take a panoramic shot)

For counter and storage space, we made do with lovely green stacking crates and once we had our cabinets in we used one of them too. The toilet is to the left of green crates.

Huge bathtub and a tall, unattached to anything cabinet

During

Plumping parts spewed all over the basement

Shower, wall, tub removed

After
This picture doesn’t show you the can lights Brad added in shower and above the washer and dryer. It is no surprise that our bathroom/laundry room is well lit and well “outletted”.  Since this picture Brad put shelves for laundry baskets above the washer and dryer. Does anyone else sort their laundry over six different ways? We still need trim, but our basement has needed that for over a year and a half. Considering that, you should be shocked I’m able to show you after pictures within a year of showing you before pictures!

I should also say my main contributions to this bathroom were buying the shelves and catching as much dust as possible with the shop vac hose when Brad was messing with drywall. We had a contractor come work for a couple of days, Brad’s mom did some drywall mudding and sanding, and other than that it was all Brad. He’s seriously amazing.

The Stories Behind the Tweets

If you happened to miss it a while ago (like my very own brother did), I have joined the world of Twitter. I find it a very enjoyable world. Here are a couple of stories behind some recent tweets.

If you aren’t on twitter, you would’ve missed this twitpic.

On Sunday, I tweeted a congrats to the runners of the Lincoln Marathon. If you ever get to go be a part of this fabulous Nebraska event as a participant or spectator, you will not be disappointed! We knew many participants, but we especially went to cheer on my sister and brother.

It was Luke’s first half marathon and one of many for JIll. They both ran their personal best and finished strong. We’re so proud of them and are now praying for their healing and recovery.

Some were more excited than others about cheering for the runners.

I was so excited, I couldn’t even get Luke’s head in the picture.

We’re all looking forward to the 2014 Lincoln Half Marathon!

—

If you saw my tweet about watching our friend’s horse foal last night, here are pictures about an hour after it was born. I took a few screen shots during the intense moments of four people pulling this adorable filly out, but apparently they didn’t save. I’m very disappointed I can’t show those to you.

Nebraska I-80

Alternate Titles:

Why I Just Stick My Head in a Book if Brad is Driving

The Semi Trucks and I

A Contrast in Medians

The part of the state that might actually think they’re tired of rain = green grass!

Don’t be deceived by the last picture. Semis were nearby.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, you see “The Kearney Arch” or technically titled the “Great Platte River Road Archway”

Road construction

Nebraska sky

The part of the state that doesn’t know what rain looks like = brown ditches

You will see semis with tractors, semis with hay, semis with cattle…

Who Am I?

Ever sense a strong theme to something God is trying to teach you?

It has been occurring to me that I pat myself on the back for things which really God just needs to be thanked. I think I’m special because I did something nice, because food I made turned out well, because I didn’t say something mean, because my house was clean, or because I read a book and on and on I could go. In reality I just need to be grateful that God enabled me to do those things or allowed them to happen at all.

It clearly is something I am needing to learn because I’ve heard the same theme in at least three different places.

1. I was podcast listening to a sermon on Romans 11 and this is what I heard:

“Whenever God steps in and pours out His blessing, history would say there’s always this tendency for the blessed to start to become arrogant, to start to think: this was about me; this was about my performance; this was about my great intellect; this is because we figured it out. And suddenly we start thinking: somehow it’s because I’m better or we figured this out or we are better—and it creates a certain degree of spiritual arrogance, that then moves to self-righteousness, which then causes God’s hand of blessing to move away. It’s a very dangerous pattern.”

2. Then in a Bible study I got to be a part, what David says in 1 Chronicles 29:14 slapped me in the face.

But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given you.

(Side note: If you’re looking for a Bible study for the summer, I would highly recommend Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed!)

3. I chose to review Accidental Pharisees: Avoiding Pride Exclusivity, and the Other Dangers of Overzealous Faith by Larry Osborne. WOW! The title of the 2nd section of the book is “Pride: When Comparison Becomes Arrogance.”

Published: 2012 by Zondervan, who so freely and kindly sent me this book to review through BookSneeze.com
Genre: Christian Life
What I gained from reading it: A realization of many different areas where I have a tendency to think arrogantly and fresh insight into the New Testament
What I liked: For someone who grew up as a Christian, who wants to follow the rules, do things right and be on fire for God, this was a great book for me to read. It pegged my incorrect thinking many times and had many outstanding points.

“But in my immaturity, I didn’t see my hunger as a God-given desire for a God-given assignment. I saw it as a sign of my superior spiritual zeal.” page 161

“It’s no wonder that we’re prone to look down on others. Our natural tendency toward self-deception causes us to think we’re in the top percentile of everything important.” pages 53-4

“The truth is Jesus didn’t come to raise the bar. He didn’t come to weed out the losers. He came to turn losers, laggards, and enemies into full-on sons and daughters of God.” page 84

Osborne gives Biblical references for his points and also great examples from today. His book has discussion questions after each of the seven sections, which would make for interesting discussion in a small group setting.
What I wasn’t sure about: I’m guessing if you read this book, you’ll feel like throwing some red caution flags. You might take a moment to really consider if you agree with what he’s saying when he says on page 69, “My expectation that every Christian should become a superstar disciple…was unrealistic and unbiblical.” Also, I wasn’t sure how his section on idolizing the past fit completely with the Pharisee idea, but it still is an interesting and educational section.
My Overall Rating (5 point scale): 4.7

I would recommend reading this book to many people. I would love to know if you’re interested.