"The Best Week Ever!" says me.

I was just reminded of how important reflection is.  The Israelites constantly looked back and reflected on all that God did for them.  Ann Voskamp puts it this way, "Remembering is an act of thanksgiving, a way of thanksgiving, this turn of the heart over time's shoulder to see all the long way His arms have carried....If I can thank God for the good of the past, I can trust Him for the good of the future, no matter what lies down that road.  I can walk the planks - from known to unknown - and know He holds."

So I am reflecting on an awesome week.  RM took the week off last week.  We had so much we had to get done and really lofty goals.  Here's just a few:

-weed, stake, tape, cultivate the entire vineyard (almost done)
-buy, set up, new bunk bed for boys (they've been bedless for a few months, sleeping on couches like homeless people) (done)
-pick concord grapes from the other vineyard and make juice (done and still doing)
-sell concord grapes on the side of the road (made good money from total strangers!)
-bring in all the hay from the last field (done in record time!)
-have all the homeschoolers over from our church (check, and so fun!)
-deliver grapes to all the neighbours (check!)
-have friends over to pick grapes for themselves (at least 7 different families!)
-host quiz practice (fit it in somehow!)
-ride horses with niece (she came and only one kid fell off!)


To my shock and awe, we were able to accomplish almost all of those goals - not your average vacation again.  I don't even know how it all got done, but the weather cooperated, for the most part, and we didn't sit down for more than a few minutes at a time.  My husband and I should be unable to walk for all the hours we were bent over.  The vineyard didn't get entirely done, but we got a lot done.  We hope to finish the rest by the end of next weekend.  It is actually starting to look like a real vineyard!  My kids admitted to us this week that they really didn't know what was going on or why we were doing it or if whatever we were doing would ever work, but now that the plants are quite high, staked and weeded, it looks amazing and they are starting to catch on to the crazy vision!

RM said to me, "This must have been your best week ever."  It was.  The reason he said that was because we had so many people over and I was constantly socializing.  The side benefit of having people come pick grapes was always having people to talk to!  I loved that!

The funny part about the selling grapes was that in all the advertising we did, no one came.  The people who ended up coming were people out of the blue just driving around.  The first time they came they told me that they were going to send others.  They did send others and they also returned themselves.  We sold them so many bushels of grapes that it paid for the juicer we had just invested in!  I was so happy!  They were such nice people and we got along so well that by the time they left we were hugging each other saying, "See you next year!"  I laughed!  Who hugs people that sell you grapes?!  Who hugs people that buy your grapes!?  I wondered if we were entertaining angels.  I seriously started to wonder about that when my son took a gator ride with one of the grape pickers.  She for some reason asked him what he wanted to do in his future.  He mentioned aviation to her (we are praying about this all the time, for direction, for wisdom, for what school to apply to, etc.).  She immediately said that she was a nurse who worked in the north and told him he needed to be a pilot of up there, which we've heard before.  But it was a neat confirmation to him that he wasn't expecting.  An angelic encounter?  We wondered.

Not only did we make goals for the week, but additional bonuses happened along the way, such as hosting both sets of grandparents, picking grapes in the vines with both of them, showing them around the vineyard, spending time catching up.  We picked so many grapes with my parents yesterday that we are now rather overrun with grapes.  After they left last night, RM and I went back and pounded a few more stakes in or taped a few more vines.  The whole time I was thinking to myself, "There's no way he'll want to make juice when we get inside.  He'll be too tired.  But if we don't then we'll be letting the grapes go bad and the fruit flies will be out of control....." iIt was the last thing on my list of "to dos" for the week.  So I just resolved to let it go as I knew he was going to be in a lot of pain.  But, to my surprise, he walked in just as it was getting dark and looked at the grapes and said, "Well, we've got a lot of work to do yet!"  We were up until 11 pm making grape juice together.  Such a fun activity to do as a couple!  My son saw us and said, "I love it when you guys are so industrious!"  That made me happy.  You never really know what your kids are seeing or observing.  But, I'm telling you, we felt industrious.  We have over 5 gallons or 20 L, of juice made and we're not even half way through what we picked.  And, there are lot of grapes left to pick.

I felt like God planned each day and packed each day with so many blessings, we truly lost count.  If I had somehow tried to micromanage the week and coordinate each visit, or each hour, I don't think the best scheduler could have done it.  Allowing God to work each day out and let Him be the head of my week made all the difference.  I tried to have low expectations.  I tried to not feel disappointed if we didn't get everything done.  When the week was over and we not only got nearly everything done, but a few bonuses on the side, I was amazed.   I remember reading a verse when I first was reawakened spiritually that spoke about the "abundant life" that Christ offered.  "I came that they might have life, life to the full."  I was told it wouldn't mean a perfect life, but an abundant one.  Our week wasn't perfect, or stress-free.  There was conflict with the kids here and there, bad attitudes from one day to the next (no one loves work), but it was abundant.  It was truly life "to the full".  Even the conflict makes it life to the full as you run around chasing kids, trying to get them to work outside or inside....it all makes life feel abundant.  All the work, all the challenges, all the successes, all the not-so-successful moments, all the visits, all the conversations, all the grape stains....made for truly "the best week ever!" 

Now, I'm overrun not just with grapes, fruit flies, stains (remember, white kitchen? not so white anymore), but laundry that piled up over the weekend.  I had to let something go in order to be outside.  But, it is raining today, so I have a chance to catch up.  Oh, and that school thing.  Have to do that, too, somehow. 

Reflecting on this past week will help me with my future weeks.  I can't believe it is October 1.  Time is flying.  The known is now behind me.  The unknown is ahead.  I can be like Ann and say, I "thank God for the good of the past.  I can trust Him for the good of the future."