LIfe is Fragile, Handle with Prayer

"Life is Fragile, Handle with Prayer"

      from Faith Notes by Hallmark
This month of August 2012 has been a time of sadness, reflection, amazement, memories, tears, joy, great sighs, heavy hearts, fear, excitement, and great apprehension.

This month of August has brought the passing of my father, an unusual amount of family time, the renewing of friendships and conversations with relatives long heard from, kind words and actions by friends and neighbors, family and people who you come to find out had a great deal of respect and caring for my father.

From all of this I have a renewed faith in community.  I had come to believe that so many things have changed and are no longer common, including the close knit community.  I was proven wrong.  There was such an outpouring
of compassion for Dad and for our family that we were amazed at the number of people who came to the services to tell us and to show how much they thought of him and what he had done in his life.  I learned that many men, especially younger men looked at my father as a great roll model, a kind and gentle man, but strong, a man who finished what he started and worked til it was done right.

A time like this is a surreal time.  The feeling of sadness is always there, you can't believe that it's happening to you, to your family.  But with all the people around you, there is a kind of big cushion that is holding you firmly, helping to soften the ever present sadness, helping you to know that they are there to share the stress, that you don't have to do it all on your own.

My niece and nephew learned alot about their grandfather during this time. Isn't it so crazy how that happens?  After they are gone, we want to ask them the questions that we think of when we are looking at their old military photos of them and their buddies.  If only...

I have learned alot about myself this month.  I have learned that my convictions and my renewed values are stronger than ever, that I feel strong enough to live my life in a way that shows others why those values are still important today.  My father taught me that, he taught me that on the day we celebrated his life.

Small Schools Rule

  Last night was opening night of Friday Night Football in our small town.  Populaltion?  Somewhere around 1000.....

  The weather has turned warm again and the night was beautiful, clear sky, beautiful sunset, and the fans from both towns filled the stands and the sidelines.  The visitors brought two buses, a little intimidating.  I think they brought every player from the JV team as well as the Varsity because their team had twice the number of players than we had.  Again, intimidating.  And, there were a lot of big, hefty guys.  We have a few that can match up but most of our players are tall but trim.  But what they lack in weight, they make it up in fortitude, focus and strength.

  The 9 or 10 seniors on the team have played in almost every sport and every activity at school together since they were 5 or 6.  A tight group.  When I think of them going off on their own into this crazy world I get a knot in my stomach.

  Our school is a community school, comprised of Preschool from ages 3 to the Senior High.  About 400 students.  And everyone knows everyone.  My guess is that one third of those students come from the surrounding countryside, many from farms.  Families whose grandfathers and great grandfathers farmed the very land they farm today.  In my opinion, one of the reasons our small school is so great.

   When I was in school, I was involved in everything possible, drama, speech, vocal music, instrumental music, track, cheerleading, newspaper.  And if they would have had gymnastics, dance team, mentoring, etc., which they now offer,  I would have been involved in those, too.  Yes, we are a small town without many work opportunities for young people and the drive to the nearest city is 20 minutes.  I actually consider this a blessing.

   In this picture of the band at half time, there are cheerleaders and first team football players, who rather than resting during half time, pick up their drums and flags and jump into position.  Dedicated young people who believe they can do it all, and they do.

   I consider almost every student that comes out of our high school outstanding young adults with a variety of skills and talents that many, many youth in large schools do not have the opportunity to expand and improve upon.  They are leaders, young people who are bright, hard working, responsible and above all, nice people.

   No matter the outcome of these games, everyone is proud of the effort of everyone involved from the water boys to the band teacher who organizes 6 am practices for the flag girls.  Our school has always been blessed to have teachers and others who go the extra mile to make sure the students get the most they can out their school experience.  If a student doesn't get involved and feels like there is nothing there for them to be involved in, well, it's hard for me to place blame on the school.
Unfortunately, I know of young adults who went through school feeling this way.  They have had a difficult time finding their place in the world.

  Today's small schools have so many more opportunities that they had when I was in school.  I think
that's the way it is supposed to be, making changes and improvements to help students learn what they need to navigate as adults.  These lessons are better learned in a small school.  In my opinion...

 

                 An Old Fashioned Idea--Accepting Responsibility

I've been thinking alot about our country, the people who live here and why
there seems to be so many problems facing America and I've decided that it
boils down to one thing.

There is one thing that seems to be missing-the fact that fewer and fewer
Americans do not accept responsibility for their own lives, livelihoods and
more specifically, their actions. 

What happened to the understanding that with actions come
consequences?  I guess I'm mainly talking about poor decisions
that bring about negative results. 

We are creating a new generation who expects to receive alot for very little
effort.  They seem unwilling to go the extra mile to achieve more than the
person next to them.  Rather than agressively work to change their situation,
they seem to sit back and live in a fog of self-pity and expectation. 

I have a great fear for the future of our country.  That this new expectation
will lead to a group of people that will take advantage of this generation of
unmotivated people.  A group of people who, disguised as caretakers and
providers for this generation, are actually modern day dictators.

I'm proud that I grew up on a farm.  It has given me an outlook on life that many people will never have.  It has given me an understanding of what hard work is.  Many, many people have never really worked hard.  Unfortunately, many, many more people in the life we have now will never know what hard work is.  It is unfortuate. 

It takes alot of work to live in the country on a farm.  Even more work if it's more than just a grain farm.  I didn't have the type of farm chores that many of my friends had but I mowed acres of grass, planted and hoed alot of gardens with my mother and grandmother, did a lot of laundry, babysat a lot of cousins.  There was always something to be done in the summer. 

It takes alot of mental strength to live on a farm, to work a farm.  It takes alot of trust, hope and faith  to be a farmer. 

It is tough to be a farmer this summer.  It is tough to live on a farm this summer.  It is heartbreaking to look at the cornfields, knowing what the fading of healthly green means.  Being a farmer this summer means digging deep for hope and faith. 

Our farmers feed the world, not just America.  Many people think the food in the grocery stores, just like the money the government spends so easily, will always be there.  Even Iowan's who live in their town and city "bubbles" don't really understand what farming does for this country's economy.  It's unfortunate. 

It's not easy living on a farm this summer.

Today is The Day!

I've been wanting to start a blog for quite a while. For many reasons, mainly because I believe that sharing knowledge, experiences and food for thought is the only way to lead you and I, to making daily decisions that will take our country back to a time when people took responsibility for themselves, to improve themselves and their situations rather than leaning on others and our government to improve and take care of them.

I will sharing interesting tidbits, information that I have gotten from a variety of sources about all subjects of interest, I hope to inform and enlighten each of you.

"Each day is a gift from God.  Have you said "Thank you" today?" 
                                                                                                   Reprinted from "Stuck on You" Faith Notes from Hallmark