Up early again

It wasn't because I couldn't sleep that I got up at 5:00 this morning. No, I slept well. I just have some "things" to do before church. I put a roast on to cook, straightened up a few areas, and I need to mop the kitchen floor. We are having company for dinner and I have been canning, making fig butter, drying apples, etc. All these forms of preserving do a number on a floor.

I was blessed to get a whole box of figs yesterday. They were over ripe and were being tossed. Some of them were beyond salvation, but most were salvageable. I washed and stemmed them. Then they went into the food processor, coming out looking all the world like mounds of guacamole. I added a bit of honey and into the oven they went to slowly bake down into fig butter. It isn't quite ready, but sure does smell good. The apples came from friends. I had shared fome fish with them and in return they gave me 2 boxes of wind fall apples.

We don't have much of a personal garden this year. Between the strange weather and our physical limitations, all we managed to get in are a few straggly tomatoes and a couple squash plants. None of these have produced more than enough for a single meal. However, the Lord does provide. When He provides, it is usually in abundance. This year has been no exception. You see, we have been adopted by the local gleaners. As elderly and somewhat infirm, we are not required to take part in the gleaning process.

There was a time, many years ago, that we were very active in this group, to the benefit of both others and ourselves, we worked hard to gather from orchards and fields that which was left after the regular harvest. But now there is no way we could do that. So as adoptees, all we need do is pick up what we need. If we can't manage that, the gleaners will even bring it to us. Praise God for his provision and for others following biblical principles. Because of that, our freezer and cupboards are full. We can use the money that would have been spent on food to pay for medication and other special items needed to live on.

We still are having to stretch our budget, but suppose we always will. Still, we can be thankful for what we have, the people who walk in and out of our lives, and a beautiful, growing family. We are so dependant on God, and that is just the way He planned.