One of the things a person learns from the farm is that the ground does not care what it grows. Even though the farmer intends to grow soybeans, grass, weeds, and those pesky cocklebur seeds find a way to the ground. In the summer that became my job…Cocklebur Killer! We walked the bean rows before …
Tag: jesus
It “Looked” Healthy & Strong…
How could this happen? The tree had all the signs of life & strength. The birds & squirrels loved and trusted it, yet when the storms came, it broke in the middle. It appears that dirt, water, and seed set up in the fork of the tree. Over time the seeds sprouted, and the tiny …
“I Have an Arrest Warrant for Mr. Johnson.”
It was Sunday night, and we were unpacking from a hard drive after a vacation in Arizona when Mary said, “Robert, there’s a State Trooper at the door with a warrant for your arrest.” I replied, “It’s a mistake…I haven’t done anything wrong.” Well, I had. I made a series of bad choices. I had …
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The Board of Education, God School
I first met Danny while working for an organization that advocates for people with developmental disabilities. It was my first job out of college, and with a degree in business, I had no idea what I was doing. I recognize this as a “God School” turning point. It would begin a 30-year journey that would …
Even God School Has Homework…
Accounting is a science of processes, rules, facts and order. When the process is done correctly, everything balances. If your numbers don’t balance, something is wrong. Accounting has no feeling. It’s just facts. Close does not count. It was around 2 AM when the bright idea struck me. For hours I had been trying to …
God School Lab, “The Pain Had A Purpose”
It seemed like an ordinary Fall Day at the lake. I had returned from lunch and was walking to the RV when I fell. I heard the snap as my knees hit the ground. I broke my leg (femur). I was by myself, lying in the slow falling rain. In the past, I had ridiculed …
Sledgehammer & Acetylene Cutting Torch!
What’s your default response to a problem? Growing up on the farm I had two primary tools to fix things, a sledgehammer to beat something into place or a cutting touch to cut my problem away. That would be my default way of life. I had a limited view of the problem. I chose what …
Just When You Thought Nothing Was Working Out…
What followed after the Resurrection of Jesus was so powerful and personal. "After His (Jesus) suffering, He presented Himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God." Acts 1:3. One of those appearances is found …
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When My Chooser Was Not Calibrated Correctly
I was a young man in my late teens. I believed I knew it all. We called it “bullet proof”. My parents gave me a wide range of freedom to make decisions. They taught me right - wrong and they lived out those principles. My dad taught me so much. As a farmer, his ways …
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Lessons From The Farm: The Soil
Soil (dirt) is incredible. Its function in life is to grow something. Several years ago, I was to speak at a conference about organizational culture, the personality, or the heart, of an organization. Each of the participants received a small bag of dirt labeled, "Soil from my grandfather's farm, which has raised rice & soybeans …
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