http://www.the-land.com en-us Copyright CNHI All Rights Reserved. 5 Fri, 19 Dec 2008 03:04:00 +0000 http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_347104501.html http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_347104501.html Here are a few of the kids that I’ve come into contact with in person or through news reports who are paying it forward — changing our world. Fri, 21 Nov 2008 03:04:00 +0000 http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_331165210.html http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_331165210.html If one’s only hope and viewpoint on world events is derived from talk radio or the reports broadcasted on the nightly news it’s easy to drift into the slimy pit of despair and fear. Fri, 24 Oct 2008 03:03:00 +0000 http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_297152502.html http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_297152502.html It was much easier for me to think of everything that I’ve done wrong than to recall what I might have got right. If anything was done well, it was only by God’s grace. Fri, 26 Sep 2008 03:05:00 +0000 http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_262163856.html http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_262163856.html Mike saw me holding the operator’s manual and was horrified. “What are you doing? Get that thing in the car right now. People are going to think we’re stupid!” ... “But we are stupid!” I wanted to say. Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:03:00 +0000 http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_234140156.html http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_234140156.html Do you relentlessly question or argue about every decision your husband makes? Although I’ll never recommend being a silent wallflower, it’s critical to know that what we perceive as proving a valid point, he is hearing as proof that we have zero respect for him, his opinions, or his decisions. Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:13:00 +0000 http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_214121522.html http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_214121522.html Two weeks before the wedding of our oldest daughter Elizabeth and her fiancé, Mark, and our family is doing swell. Just swell. Or should I say just swollen? Thu, 03 Jul 2008 03:06:00 +0000 http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_183171758.html http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_183171758.html It's going to be my first mother-of-the-bride wedding, I’m not sure what “ready” feels like, but I’m quite confident I haven’t experienced it to date. Fri, 06 Jun 2008 03:03:00 +0000 http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_150151535.html http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_150151535.html Contrary to popular belief that life is only good when it’s easy and contented, it’s important to note that sometimes in the hardest circumstances, we experience the best stuff. Struggles often strengthen relationships and give birth to better times. Fri, 09 May 2008 03:04:00 +0000 http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_123101907.html http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_123101907.html Is it really possible to fulfill your lifetime dreams? Is graduation really the launching pad to greater heights and the ability to help solve societal problems? Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:04:00 +0000 http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_102100321.html http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_102100321.html “What do you do around here for fun?” Everyone laughed. Although this Dutch farming community advertises itself as growing, population of 5,600 doesn’t exactly equate a boomtown. Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:05:00 +0000 http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_073111333.html http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_073111333.html There are three kinds of farm women: actively involved, passively involved, and mushrooms — the farm wives who are in the dark. Thu, 14 Feb 2008 08:47:00 +0000 http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_039114728.html http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_039114728.html Although kissing and cooking are two methods to heal conflict, author Emerson Eggerichs says that the primary key to healthy marriages is love and respect. Fri, 18 Jan 2008 12:33:00 +0000 http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_018123920.html http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_018123920.html When you stepped into 2001, did you predict that terrorists would strike America on 9/11? Entering 2005, did you foresee that Hurricane Katrina would roar ashore? South Asians didn’t plan for their devastating tsunami either. Fri, 21 Dec 2007 03:04:00 +0000 http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_347115218.html http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_347115218.html Everything’s bigger these days — serving portions, homes with multi-garage stalls, farm equipment, etc., along with our corresponding super-sized waistlines, heating bills and operating notes. Holiday celebrations are no exception to the super-size movement. Fri, 23 Nov 2007 11:04:00 +0000 http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_324120537.html http://www.the-land.com/l_porch/local_story_324120537.html As I waited in a local grocery store’s checkout line, I observed clerks asking customers if they would like to donate $1 or $5 to the food shelf. When the clerk to my right asked her patron, the woman snapped, “I give at the church; I’m not giving here!”