Canning Season

The hammock hangs empty, this time of year.

Canning season is in full gear and I keep telling myself, "Simplify people, simplify!" What does that look like? I left the skins on my peaches this year. It will be alright. Really, it will. The last few years, I gave away many of our tomatoes and apples - the crop to much for me to handle. But, this year, we are both sharing and shelving, and very grateful for what the Lord bestows.

We've been delighted to find new crops to harvest, for a few trees are finally mature enough to bear. Some of these trees, we didn't plant and didn't know what they were, and it's been fun to walk through the garden and knock my head on something new.

  The birds usually get these first.

We will see who wins this year.

My vote is with the birds.

The bees adore sunflowers. 

Let's all plant some. 

Maybe it will prevent bee colony collapse.

In our third year here, I look around me and think of Isaiah 37: 30

 “This year you will eat what grows by itself,
    and the second year what springs from that.
But in the third year sow and reap,
    plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

I am grateful for the fruit the Lord bestows. It is He alone, that makes the bud to bear. I am grateful that our enemy who rages against us, who threatens our peace and joy, is destroyed at the Cross. The love of God will have the final word, when all the world is a rage. His words will bear fruit: hope and deliverance. Isaiah 37

Feeling spent? 

Remember, it is the seed that falls to the ground that bears fruit.

"...unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, 

it remains only a single seed. 

But if it dies, it produces many seeds."

  John 12:24

Many times, spiritual fruit comes from events and circumstances we would never want or ask for. But, if we will bear it, we will bear His love into the world. Through His love, we can share grace with those experiencing leaner days, and trust He will provide for our needs.