Grotberg family

Only some of the Grotbergs on Fourth of July.

"Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching. They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck" Proverbs 1:8

"My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call-out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God." Proverbs 2:1-5

"My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity." Proverbs 3:1-2

"When I was a boy in my father's house, still tender, and an only child of my mother, he taught me and said 'Lay hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands and you will live." Proverbs 4:3-4

These are the words that open most chapters in the book of Proverbs,  a plea for children to listen and follow the advice of their parents. Also all throughout the book it speaks of wise sayings and reminds us to fear the Lord in reverence. We were able to travel to North Dakota to meet Nancy's Germos's parents-the Grotbergs, and some of her siblings. Dick and Linda Grotbeg come to my mind when I read these scriptures because they put God first in their lives and their children have watched and seen what this means through the testing and trials of life. I loved listening to Grandpa Dick's stories about God providing for all their needs throughout the years. They were raising their 10 children to know who God is and wanted to go on the Mission field. They went to be Bethany to see if this would be possible. At the time the sending agency told them they had too large of a family to be sent overseas- but instead to teach their children to have a missions heart. Most of their kids did end up going to Bethany College of Missions (now Bethany Global University). Their daughter Laurie, along with her husband Jeff, are missionaries in Ghana. They are stuck in the States right now, but we were so glad to catch up with them on the farm. Nancy and Dan were missionaries in Kenya when Jason and I went on a 3 week short missions trip after our freshman year. We watched how they had relationships with the people there and how they got involved in church. They had truly embraced the culture and made it their home. That's when Kenya got into our own hearts and in many ways we began to walk in their footsteps.

We were amazed by the Grotberg's property. They have been able to transfer buildings onto it. They have a decent sized church, a school house, other small houses and their big houses that has had add-ons to it. All these were brought to their property on a truck. I have seen pictures of this and there is a special device to lift the electricity wires when a house is being moved. We got a tour of it all and found it fascinating. Dan and Nancy were married in the church and a lot of the Grotberg children got their education in the schoolhouse. Grandpa Dick and Grandma Linda used to be pig farmers and we got to see where the pigs lived when they were there. It sounded like an awfully lot of hard work. We went over to Nancy's brother Dwights farm. He grows corn, soybeans and wheat. He farms 8,000 acres. Dwight's wife Allison and son Soren came on a short term mission's trip to Kenya in 2019. They visited our farm in Garissa and we have a special bond with them. We finished off our time in North Dakota at Nancy's sister's, Carolyn. Carolyn's family had a bonfire party. They have goats so we felt right at home.

Nancy's Mom arranged for us to go on several field trips. When we went we would travel in several cars because some of the Grotbergs adult children and their families also came along. It was so fun to always go together in a big group. We went to see self-sustaining organic farm, and to the Peggy Lee museum. We got invited to their fourth of July plans at a YWAM base in Wisconsin. We went to see an aquaponics fish farm and to see Amish homemade houses.  Our daughters got to see a firework show for their first time and were absolutely delighted.  This family loves the Lord and truly enjoys being together. This is our hope for our own family as we all grow older. We truly wish we could have spent more time with the Grotbergs!

This is inside the schoolhouse that is on their property.

This is in the kitchen. Nancy and her sister Lori are in the background. Samara is sitting with Matthew Scotting  a previous intern who came up from South Dakota.

Our girls with some of the Grotberg grandchildren.

Jason with Nancy's brother Dwight. Dwight is a farmer and we learned so much about how he does things.

At the Peggy Lee museum. 

We got stuck at a train crossing. So we had a photo shoot.

That black box in the background is a cooling device to make sure the temperatures don't get too hot in the aquaponics farm.

The Amish houses.

Looking inside.

Nancy's brother, Daniel in the grey shirt. He is an electrician and often gets hired after someone buys an Amish house- to do all the wiring for electricity. 

The saw mill that chops all the lumber.

Looking at the process before the Amish houses 

Me and Nancy!