And the baby makes 5

After a couple months of searching, interviewing, and searching I have been offered a position with United Prairie Bank. I am really excited and am so thankful the Lord has rewarded our family's patience with such a perfect fit. In both of my interviews I was overwhelmed by how much United Prairie's ideals coincided with my own principals regarding life, but specifically banking. We conversed about how important a local bank is to the community and I told a story that my Dad recently shared with me about how my Grandfather got his start in farming.
My grandfather was attending an auction for a farmsite near the town that he lived. The local banker, Vinyl Kliteman...yes, his first name was Vinyl, approached my Grandfather and stated that, "Ray, you need to buy this farm!" My Grandpa replied that he, Vinyl, should know as good as anybody that he couldn't afford this farm. To which Vinyl replied, "You don't need the money, I'll back you." My Grandpa won the auction and farmed that ground until he retired forty plus years later. Incidentally, my family's farm was located just across the half section and my Grandpa's farm was later sold to my Uncle on my mother's side.
By sharing this story I wanted to state my belief that the quality of a borrower is much more than just numbers on a page. I want to return to the process of not ONLY looking at the numbers, but also looking at the integrity and character of a borrower. Vinyl knew the type of person my Grandfather was and that if he lent him the money to purchase that farm, he was going to get every red cent back with interest. Wells Fargo, US Bank, etc... have centralized their decision making and have taken that relationship completely out of the bank-customer connection. Surprisingly enough, they gave me the job despite sharing all of this with them. In fact, they shared my sentiments.
I can't wait to get started!