Storm Clouds Have a Silver Lining During Corn Planting

Last week, Jeremy was busy planting corn (see video at the link below).  Jeremy and our assistant farm manager, Ben, built this planter.  It is quite the engineering marvel to me and is a unique combination of parts from the White company, John Deere, and Case IH. So far, they're pleased with its performance.  It is being pulled with our New Holland 9882 Tractor ("Big Blue") and is followed by the Case IH "air cart", which during corn planting, holds fertilizer.  The lines of boxes (16, one for each of 16 rows of corn) hold the seeds and then they are dropped individually into a slice in the soil made by the "openers", meanwhile tiny granules of fertilizer are blown by air pressure through tubes from the air cart and are dropped next to the seeds.  Using GPS and variable rate seeding technology (all a part of "precision agriculture technology") we can plant with accuracy to the fraction of an inch and match soil health and fertility to application of seed and fertilizer, making this a highly efficient process that also protects the environment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfx6s65pd0M

Tractor, followed by corn planter, followed by air cart.

My assistant, the Little Boy on the Prairie. With our busy farming lives, he has gotten very good at eating baby food while I am wedged into his sister's booster seat :)

Then a storm rolled in across the prairie...

 It got darker...

And darker...

And then Ben went cruising by to the next field with the "Magnum" tractor and the "Joker" to go fix some ruts left over from last year's wet weather muddy mess before Jeremy got there to plant corn.

There he is, a tiny dot in the lower right hand corner, while the storm got even closer...

At this link, you can see a video of the storm from a distance, with the peanut gallery giggling in the background :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r0eV4EI1dU

That night the storm shut down our corn planting operation, but every cloud has a silver lining and sometimes those rainy days are blessings in disguise because Jeremy got to drop C.W. off at pre-school the next day...

"...He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain

and makes grass grow on the hills..." Psalm 147.

Creeds I Live By

Today is Wednesday and many of my friends and colleagues will be blogging with "Wordless Wednesday" posts, but I'm going in totally different direction here today, and posting about words that are important to me.

There are two creeds that sum up my entire existence. The first explains my entire existence, and in my heart and mind, the second is simply an extension of the principles that are laid out in the first. I hope you enjoy reading both, and I hope you are encouraged and inspired as much as I am when you read them.

The first is The Apostles' Creed: (Source: www.afajournal.org). According to a recent article in the American Family Association Journal, it is "the oldest statement of faith outside the New Testament" and "in its earliest form, the creed dates back to about A.D. 125..." Today we recite what I would call an "updated" version of this in my church, which includes changes like "catholic" being replaced with "christian", and "quick" being replaced with "living".  I understand the reasons for the changes, but personally I prefer the "old school" version I learned in my little country church as a child, because it is forever engrained in my memory as it is written below and my tongue still stumbles over the changes on occasion.  When I recite it as follows, I can still feel my Grandparents standing next to me in their Sunday best, my hands resting on the wooden pew in front of me and the kind voice of Reverend Wilbur Taylor leading our congregation in it's recitation.

"I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord: Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried, The third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I beleve in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen."

The second is the FFA Creed (Source: www.ffa.org)  According to the National FFA Organization (formerly known as the Future Farmers of America), which I joined in the 7th grade, "The FFA creed was written by E. M. Tiffany, and adopted at the 3rd National Convention of the FFA. It was revised at the 38th Convention and the 63rd Convention."  I think it is as true today as it ever was.

"I believe in the future of agriculture, with a faith born not of words but of deeds - achievements won by the present and past generations of agriculturists; in the promise of better days through better ways, even as the better things we now enjoy have come to us from the struggles of former years.

I believe that to live and work on a good farm, or to be engaged in other agricultural pursuits, is pleasant as well as challenging; for I know the joys and discomforts of agricultural life and hold an inborn fondness for those associations which, even in hours of discouragement, I cannot deny.

I believe in leadership from ourselves and respect from others. I believe in my own ability to work efficiently and think clearly, with such knowledge and skill as I can secure, and in the ability of progressive agriculturists to serve our own and the public interest in producing and marketing the product of our toil.

I believe in less dependence on begging and more power in bargaining; in the life abundant and enough honest wealth to help make it so--for others as well as myself; in less need for charity and more of it when needed; in being happy myself and playing square with those whose happiness depends upon me.

I believe that American agriculture can and will hold true to the best traditions of our national life and that I can exert an influence in my home and community which will stand solid for my part in that inspiring task."

It is my hope that as my children are growing and beginning to understand the importance of the written and spoken word and how words can reflect our faith and the values that are the foundation for our farm, that they too will hold these creeds in their hearts as well and recite them with conviction and dignity.

What words do YOU and your family live by?

The Many Faces of the Little Boy on the Prairie

Lesson learned...by trying to fix a typo in the original version of this post with my iPhone, I accidently deleted the entire thing!  So I'm going to try to re-create the original, because I was quite pleased with all but that one misspelling :)

Here we go, again...

The little boy on the prairie will be 10 months old next week.  He is a joy. He is a lot of work. He is many miracles rolled into one little human.

He has red hair. This means the Bedgar genes are strong with this one.

He is getting teeth...see...all the better to bite me with, my dear.

He is inquisitive.  So am I. Where did he get that scratch on his cheek anyway?

He is determined.

So much so that he found a loose piece of trim in the hallway and ripped it off.

Then he tried to eat it.

All.

Boy.

This face? This is the "I'm gonna change your world, Mama" face.

He has.
For the better.

I love him so.


"...I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:10, King James Version

The Wee Wilson's- Foolin' Around on April Fools

Has it really been this long since I put up a post!? Gee, I wonder why...maybe it's because we've been scrambling to get ready to plant our crop, or yet another round of the flu bug came through, or we took some time to celebrate the Easter season and that our risen Lord has freed us from sin, or perhaps, it was because I decided that the piles of laundry and dishes just HAD to go...I think it was a little of all of these, but either way, I'm putting up a few fun posts of our family being just us these past few weeks.

Here are a few fun pics of the Wee Wilson's fooling around on April Fools!  April Fools isn't just any day around here, it is my dear Grandpa Thomas' birthday, and although we miss him dearly, I know he is getting such a kick out of watching these little hooligans from heaven :)

Retro 80's boy.

Yep, that lasted about three seconds.

C.W.  jumped in for a kiss. That didn't go so well.  Oh, and my children are walking billboards on any given day. Want your business advertised? Just give them temporary tattoos! Fun Fact: Bobcat's are made in Gwinner, North Dakota. See www.bobcat.com :) 

I think he enjoys conversation from a bit of a distance instead of being covered in girl germs :)

This is the "I can't believe you made me wear polka dot GIRL sunglasses, Mama!" face.

The wee redhead couldn't bear the sound of sister and brother having so much fun without her, so she decided to join the party :)

 Did you get fooled on April Fools Day? I did: C.W. told me, "Mama, today you get a nap!...APRIL FOOLS!"  She was right. No nap, but lots of laughs.

Thanks for stopping by!

When In Doubt Look Up!



Our wee redhead at just a few months of age.  Time has flown- she's now three :)

These days I see so many people struggling.  Children with cancer and rare diseases.  Babies in intensive care.  Young parents trying to care for them.  An overwhelming amount of illness and opression in our world.  To all those who are facing a challenge today, I share with you these words of encouragement.  My friend, if you are feeling weak, doubtful, or discouraged, look up! 

"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me" - Philippians 4:13

God Bless!
Sarah :)

This is My Father's World.

Tomorrow is the first official day of spring! Who's excited!?

We've been enjoying "spring during winter", as one friend called it. This past weekend we did some kite-flying on the farm!

Jeremy provided some guidance in keeping the kites from getting tangled.

The Wee Redhead did her best to keep her Winnie the Pooh kite in the air.  Special THANKS to our Irish friend, Mrs. B., who sent us green shirts and necklaces for St. Patrick's Day!

The Little Boy on the Prairie sat on his sister's sweatshirt and enjoyed some sunshine and kite-watching.

In celebration of the glorious weather we've been having and the time our family has spent on our farm soaking it up, I am posting part of the wonderful old hymn, "This is My Father's World".

"This is my Father's world, and to my listening ears all nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my Father's world: I rest me in the thought of rocks and trees, of skies and seas- His hand the wonders wrought.
This is my Father's world, the birds their carols raise, the morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker's praise.
This is my Father's world: He shines in all that's fair; in the rustling grass I hear Him pass, He speaks to me everywhere..."

This was written by Maltbie D. Babcock in the early 1900's and was taken from "Devotional Hymns", which, according to a note inside the front cover, was purchased by the Ladies Aid of Edmunds, North Dakota in 1953.  It was a gift to me from Jeremy's Grandma Eberhardt and it is a treasure to me.

Listen to the melody on "Cyber Hymnal" here:

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/t/i/tismyfw.htm

Have a wonderful week, wherever you are in our Father's world!

Sarah :-)

A wild night with Lutheran ladies then lunch with the Governor.

My life is filled with contradictions. So much so, that some days I feel like I'm living a double-life.

For instance, here is a summary of the last 24 hours of my life.

- I attended baby shower for our Pastor's daughter last night.  Had only my baby boy in tow, because Jeremy had (thankfully) offered to stay home and put the girls to bed so I could have a "night out".  I don't know when toting an 8 month old along to a baby shower with the gals from church became a "night out", but it has, and I was grateful for the opportunity.  We played the typical baby shower games and I got to visit with some of my favorite women in our community.  I had two cups of punch. I know. I'm wild!

- The baby shower just so happened to be at the same apartment building where Jeremy's grandmother lives.  She's a Lutheran too! I skipped out of the shower a little early to visit with her a bit.  What was supposed to be a quick visit turned into two and a half hours.  I'm telling you, these Lutheran ladies are a bad influence :-)

Baby boy hangin' with Grandma E.

- I was so tired by the time I got home, that I didn't pull far enough into the garage and managed to shut the garage door on the back end of the pickup.  I assessed the situation. Thankfully, there was no damage and I toted my little guy and my prize for being one of the baby word scramble winners into the house.

- I awoke this morning 45 minutes late, only to see the alarm clock blinking and to find that the power had gone out last night.  This put our little family into a fumbling, chaotic version of warp speed.  Jeremy raced out the door to meet a friend so they could go to an auction sale in Fargo, 100 miles away, and I got all three kids assembled and loaded into the pickup.

- I turned the key in the pickup ignition and all I heard was "click". Apparently, after my little incident with the garage door, I was so flustered that I left the headlights on ALL NIGHT. I got all the children and their stuff back into the house, only to hear my oldest exclaim "AWESOME! Now we get to play!" Ah, to be a kid again :-)

- So husband, along with our second vehicle, were gone.  All the neighbors were at work.  Car repair/tow service man was on vacation.  This was looking pretty grim.  Eventually, a neighbor farmer and friend came to our rescue and gave the Hi Ho Silver a jump start and were on our way. Again.

- I got the two little kids off to daycare then swung by one of our fields that has a weather station in it that was slightly malfunctioning.  I annoyed my oldest daughter, who had been watching The Muppets on my iPhone, and took the phone back so that I could stand in the middle of the field and call the professor from North Dakota State University that is working with us on this research project and confirmed that a deer had NOT knocked the weather station over and the solar panel is fully functioning and we got the issue figured out. 

NDSU Weather Station. Part of a project with NDSU and the Natural Resources Conservation District and Soil Conservation Service.

Delighted to find this shriveled, decomposing purple top turnip in one of the research plot with cover crops.
It's doing it's job well by decomposing and leaving behind nutrients in the soil!

- I got the big girl off to school at by this time it was ELEVEN O'CLOCK.  I realized the pickup was nearly out of gas so I fueled up, tried my best to scrub the mud off of the headlights and brake lights while it was filling up and then I bolted home to clean up for a luncheon.

- I traded my jeans, hooded sweatshirt and stocking cap, for a nice cardigan and heels, and headed downtown for the annual Ag Week Luncheon the Jamestown Chamber of Commerce puts on.  I turned up the heat in the vehicle as high as I could get it and set the vents to blast in my face and fluffed/dried my hair on the way across town.

- I shook hands with the movers and shakers in our local ag industry, and sat down to have lunch, a few feet away from our Mayor and the Governor of North Dakota.

- After lunch, I discussed development of ag policy, leadership training for young people in agriculture, promoting agriculture through social media and a new multi-million dollar ethanol plant project with the Governor.

- I then headed home to get all the work done that I hadn't gotten done this morning, meanwhile contemplating my "double life".

- When I pulled into the garage I put up a sign in front of my pickup that says "Turn Lights Off!".

- That's my day in a nutshell.  How has yours been? :-)

  Sarah :-)