Everyone loves a superhero. Stories about seemingly ordinary people with superhuman powers are a crowd favorite, whether it’s Superman, Batman or, most recently, Wonder Woman – which, according to Forbes, is the “fifth biggest superhero movie ever.”

Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.—Philippians 4:4 Lately, I have been puzzled at the commandment the Lord gives us to rejoice. What does it really mean? How is it different from gratitude?

As I write this, the L.A. Dodgers have just beaten the Chicago Cubs in the National League Conference Series. The Cubs didn’t put up much of a show, really. Their bid to be repeat champions ended quietly in a 4-1 series loss. For them, it meant the off season and, for me, back to normal life.

“We are going to get some projects done.” That was my mom’s declaration each time company was coming. It didn’t matter whether it was a graduation, holiday or anniversary. It was a deadline to get a big goal accomplished. “How silly,” I thought. “No one is going to notice.”

If you were in 4-H or FFA, you probably still remember the first animal you took to the fair. I really wanted to show my pet pig at the fair, but my parents were right. The whole idea of a fat kid leading a pig around on a leash … nobody needs to see that.

It’s been a tough year for dairy farmers; milk prices have been low for two years, and in some places like Michigan, a deduction has taken another bite out of milk checks to cover the cost of milk sold at a loss by their cooperative.

This past September, I became a mom … to twins! The husband and I are officially the parents to one little farm boy and one little farm girl. While I have forgotten what “sleep” is, we have never been happier.

Every day, dairy farmers go to great lengths to care for their cows. In this series from Dairy MAX, Anita van der Laan of Van der Laan Dairy in Oklahoma shares her story about caring for a premature calf through a snakebite. Can you relate? Allison was born to a first-time mom on a Saturday morning – about five weeks early. No hair – in February.

Sitting in our combine, harvesting this year’s corn crop, gives me lots of time to think. On a recent pass back and forth down the corn rows, I started thinking about what the rest of my family was doing at that very moment.

Editor’s note: The CEO Corner contains editors’ compilations of business insights and analysis of current news, which they have tailored for the dairy industry. This column inspires million-dollar dairy operations to think like CEOs in other industries do. What if you could ask your smartphone to tell you which of your cows were lame? Or which cows were most likely to get sick in the next day or two? Or whether a switch from feeding last year’s silage to this year’s crop has impacted milk production? If you think that’s beyond the capabilities of Siri or Alexa, a Dutch-based company wants you to meet Ida.