There are times when I just don’t believe the weather forecast! It seems to me our weather is very unpredictable. It’s as if the weather has a mind of its own and about the time you make plans to do something, it changes. I guess we have to remember no matter what we plan we cannot control the weather so we have to make the best of it. For instance the 4th of July officially began at midnight on July 4th. However, at 11:30. Thursday evening, July 3, a loud crash of thunder shook the house lighting up the sky even better than our fireworks. It also continued for several hours. We can go ahead and make all of our plans we want to do, but guess who is in control! The weatherman. July 4th arrived on July 3rd as he provided his own fireworks. I guess we learned we can make all kinds of plans for campouts, picnics and family reunions but that doesn’t mean the weather will cooperate. There are very few things we are not in charge of these days but just remember the weatherman has the final say. I hope you had a happy 4th of July and the weather did not interfere too much.The 13th annual Bosch Open golf tournament was at Prairie Green Willow Run Golf Course in Sioux Falls, S.D., over the 4th of July weekend. Participants included the Dries and Laura May Bosch family and grandchildren, Cornie and Darlene Bosch family and Betty Boeve family and grandchildren, for a total of 25 participants. This year’s champs were Keith and Chad Bosch who will be hosting the event next year. It was a fun weekend for all. Joan Hoogeveen and Henrietta Huenink were guests for a Saturday morning breakfast in honor of Wayne VanWyhe’s 70th birthday. Happy Birthday to him. Steen Senior Citizens had their July meeting on Monday, July 7, at Steen Community Center. Cards and games were played and lunch was served. The Orrin Aukes family had a family gathering at the park in Worthington on Sunday as Nancy’s children were home. Those attending were Bernice and Orrin Aukes, Steen, Nancy and Steven Willers and family, Fairmont, Lisa and Taylor Telford, Sioux Falls, Mary Crawford, Beaver Creek, and Linda and Dan Aukes and his friend, Amy. Allen and Donna Bodewitz, Sioux Falls, were Saturday evening visitors in the home of his mother, Henrietta Heunink. The Rev. Mark and Eva Bonnema, Federal Way, Wash., came this week to visit his mother, Micky Bonnema, who resides at Tuff Home and other relatives here. They are houseguests in the home of his sister, Ginger and Jim France, in Sioux City, Iowa. The C.A.B. Club from Steen Reformed Church will serve at The Banquet in Sioux Falls on Friday evening. Congratulations to Heather Bonnema and Patrick Cilbrit who were united in marriage on Saturday afternoon, July 5, in Des Moines, Iowa. Heather’s parents are Lowell and Glenda Bonnema.Henry Van Der Weerd underwent surgery at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Tuesday. He was able to return to his home on Thursday. Thursday Joyce Aykens, Mildred Keunen and Jo Aykens drove to Sioux City, Iowa, to visit Mark and Eva Bonnema who are guests in the Ginger and Jim France home. Lunch was served at the Noodle Zoo at Dakota Dunes. Ginger’s husband, Jim, is the manager there. Jeff Bosch and sons, Kevin and Bo, Walbridge, Ohio, arrived July 1 to visit in the home of his parents, Dries and Laura May Bosch and to participate in the Bosch Open. Arnold and Jane Bonnema’s daughter, Denise Eben, and her daughter, TyLynn, Plant City, Fla. arrived July 1 to spend two weeks visiting in the home of her parents. Paul Aykens, Orange City, Iowa, and his daughter, Andrea, Cedar Ralls, Iowa, were Wednesday callers in the home of his mother, Jo Aykens, in Steen. Those from Steen Reformed Church attending camp at Inspiration Hills this week are: Danielle Baker, Haley Larson, Megan Saarloos, Brooke Tilstra, Kyle Van Der Weerd, Whitney Wilgenburg, Sonya Elbers, Aaron Esselink, Steven Harsma, Jessica Leenderts, Kari Roozenboom, Thomas Scholten, Amanda Tilstra, Lance Van Der Weerd and Jill Weitgenant.In our world today most of us have been striving for more and more material things such as a better car, a new house, a raise in our pay check and still it seems we are never quite satisfied. As I think back to the years I was growing up which were the Depression years, it was a very different way of life than we have today. Most everything revolved around the home Why? Because there was so much work to do and so little money to do it with. If you worked away from home you earned very little. Those who went out to clean homes received a $1 a week for their labor. My father used to say, "No man is worth a $1 an hour." We were all poor and we didn’t know it as we were all in the same boat! We learned to appreciate the little things. An old Irish Proverb is "From little acorns grow great oak trees." It was encouraging sayings that kept us going such as, "Daylight will peep through a very small hole;" "Joined together even little things are strong;" "Drop by drop fills the tub;" "Little and often fills the purse;" "A little rain each day will fill the rivers to overflowing;" "The heap in the barn consists of single grains;" and "A little shrub grows into a big tree."The popular songs that we sang also reflected our way of life. I remember the words to one song that seemed to have impressed me. The title of it was "Try a Little Tenderness." The words were, "I know she is weary, women do get weary wearing the same shabby dress. But when she’s weary try a little tenderness." As we struggle with a changing of our familiar world today I think we are all a bit short of giving tenderness to others. Those of us who lived through those years learned that we can be rich, even when we are poor. It is when we make the very most of what we have, and enjoy and appreciate what we have, that we learn the value of all the little things in life. Very few of us even think about these things but we need to think more about others and the little things in life. How much happier we would all be!
