“Grandpa, Do You Want to Finish Well?”

“I wasn’t able to talk  for over  two years about what happened with my grandfather”, a young farmer confides as he describes a bitter battle over the transition of land titles from his father’s father to him. I am concerned about  the many threads of...

Shed Some Stuff and Share the Story

As I write this, we are in the final stages of seeding the crop. As you read this, I hope you are camping with family, or relaxing after a full day of haying or spraying. The busy season on the farm gets interrupted when someone is critically ill or dies suddenly. I...

Your Deepest Needs

I  once asked my Sunday School class, a faithful group of farmers and rural folks,  “How do you find out what someone really needs?” They shared their thoughts on listening deeply, spending time with people to build relationships, and relying on God to give wisdom....

The Gift of Contentment

As part of the redecorating project of my flooded basement, I took an ancient  (faded ) mountain print gold framed picture to the glass guys, and had a mirror put into the frame. The print had faded to blues, but the story behind the  picture prompted me to...

Wake Up to Women on Your Farm Team

“There’s a huge talent pool that agriculture needs to pay attention to” quips BDO’s Jim Synder as we visit on the plane . Jim leads the agriculture component of a Canada wide accounting firm, and has experience with the chartered banks as well. He spent a lot of time...