HARVEST SEASON

It is harvest time here in the Midwest.






The weatherman is calling for a hard freeze tonight and even colder tomorrow, so I went out at 10 PM, dodged the coyotes (we have had two that have shown up in our backyard almost every day for the past 7 days) and picked the last apples on the apple tree.
It was 36 degrees, spitting rain (with some snow pellets mixed in), wind chill is 28.


Here's the last of the apples. They are so crisp and sweet. You just have to quarter them and remove the "protein." I guess that makes them ORGANIC apples.




















On Thursday, my friend Parker
Rittgers and I drove back from downstate Illinois and we must have seen at least 100 combines bringing in the corn and soybeans.








This is such a beautiful time of the year.


We have been monitoring the cornfield behind our house.














I expect that in the next couple of day, it will be harvested as well.
Here is a picture we took right after church today.




I am thankful God is using Joy and me in HIS harvest.

PLEASURE

I love growing

• growing plants in the garden. (this was not a good year for tomatoes [Dan Quayle spelling]. It was a good year for Joy's green peppers. Earl likes them, but they don't like Earl)
• growing trees - my Quaking Aspen, River Birch and Red Maple trees were beautiful this fall.
• growing apples - I have an apple tree that has five varieties of apples grafted onto it. My grand daughter Emma took an interest in the tree. I sent a box of the outstanding apples to Emma, Sam, Glenda and Erik. Upon opening the box, she announced to Sam, "Sam, these are from MY apple tree with Bakka (that is the name she gave me when she was about 16 months old). My daughter-in-law Glenda posted We got a package in the mail today from Bakka. He included the kids' favorite candies and, the best part, some apples from the apple tree in his backyard. Emma considers that tree exclusively her and Bakka's. She considers that tree something they did together...their private thing. It was so cute as she opened the box...it was like she just knew he would be sending her apples so that she could sample the goods from THEIR tree. It made me smile.

That makes my heart SMILE!

• About nine years ago, my son and I rescued some trees that had not grown the way a landscaper had hoped. They had pulled them out of the ground and thrown them away. I planted them in my "project area" in the backyard. It turned out that they were red maples and their colors are beautiful this Fall.
• I love seeing people grow. I love to see them develop into the full potential that God has for them. I'm talking about, not only people that have been following Christ for some time, I'm talking about people that someone labeled as "pre-sheep".
  
• I also love growing CHURCHES. This is the hardest of all. Over the years, I have discovered that too many churches, really don't want to grow. They have reached a place where they are "comfortable." They like the people they have, they have enough funds coming in to take care of the building and grounds. I guess, what I am saying is that they have enough for maintenance. But Jesus has not called us to JUST maintain. I remember an old song from many years ago... Hold The Fort, For I Am Coming. That is the problem! NO WHERE in God's Holy Word are we told to "HOLD THE FORT." As God's Army, we are to be advancing. There is no homeostasis. You're either advancing or retreating. There is no middle ground. (hmmmm, I'm not passionate about that, am I?!)

I LOVE GROWING.
GOD HELP ME ALWAYS TO BE GROWING AND TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH GROWING THINGS, ORGANIZATIONS AND PEOPLE!