A Weekend in the Life......

Somehow over the weekend we managed to finish pruning the entire vineyard.  What a task.  I was so amazed at how the entire family stepped up.  From the youngest to the oldest, we were all in there.  As we all pruned alongside one another, I would say as often as I could, "Thank you so much for being out here!"  One child said, "You know, I actually don't mind!  It gives me purpose for living!"  Hmmmmm....I loved that.

As I pictured what all their peers were probably doing all weekend, I felt so grateful knowing mine were alongside me.  I tried to soak it all in.  I will say, I have very funny kids.  Most of the time they have me laughing my head off.  That helped pass the time.  We also managed to have really significant conversations as well with the older ones as we had many hours to pass.  I managed to sneak in a few great lectures without them knowing.

But honestly, it was only accomplished because so many hands were on deck.  The youngest, already 7 now, was helping in his own way, looking for toads and bugs, but he was beside me, so that made me happy.  The next little guy, 8, I tried to keep interested as well with pulling weeds and cutting tape, but he knew that was "busy work" and got bored right away.  So I thought, why not train him how to prune?  So I did and to my amazement he got it right away and became quite good at it.  That was when I was reminded that kids need meaningful work, not busy work, in order to feel like they are actually contributing to the family economy.  Great lesson for me.  Did he stick with it all weekend?  No.  I did catch him wandering off a lot, but again, at least he was outside.

At the same time I had my 10 year still running the house inside.  She did such a great job.  We managed to eat, keep the kitchen, and prune, all because of what she was doing.   In all the farm chaos, RM's dad had knee replacement surgery and shortly after had a major stroke.  Amazingly, he seems ok, though we all know anything can change at any moment. No one can ever plan for these things or ever say, "Now would be a good time to have a family emergency."  So we had to just deal with it, fitting in visits, making arrangements for his mom.  It was a challenge.  Somehow we also had a Daddy birthday, Father's Day and even installed a new washing machine and dryer....all this weekend.  Busy just doesn't seem to describe us right now.  But it is very satisfying as we know there is a greater purpose and that keeps us going.

Church was great, too.  The sermon was on the last chapter of 2 Timothy, finishing off a series.  Though it seems like such an insignificant chapter as it is Paul saying hi and bye to all the people he worked with it turns out it is a very meaningful chapter.  It was a great reminder that God brings people into our life that stick by us like glue and then there are others that hurt us very badly that, as in Paul's case, we warn others about.  I was able to reflect on that as that has certainly been the case in my life.  So many great people, in my life, in my kids' lives and then others that have been hurtful.  Yet the pastor's message was EACH person is there for a reason.  There have been people that have come into our lives that have caused hurt.   I know God uses everything, but it still hurts.  Seeing how Paul handled hurt was an amazing reminder on how to handle these hard situations.  He says, in 4:14, "Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.  Beware of him yourself for he strongly opposed our message.  At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me.  May it not be charged against them!  But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.  So I was rescued from the lion's mouth."

The pattern is clear - Paul admits the harm against him, but let's God deal with that situation.  He doesn't hold on to any bitterness or any sense of vengeance.  It's God's deal.  Then, though he was left alone and even felt deserted, he doesn't allow himself any bitterness there either as he says, "may it not be charged against them".  I would have made charges!  Wow!  He doesn't let the faults of others stop him in his work.  He looks to the Lord and to the Lord only for his strength, instead of depending on frail humans who undoubtedly will let us down.  Then, despite the harm, the message of the gospel still got out and Paul, though attacked in some way, was "rescued".  I went out in the vines later that day to finish up a row and as I was on my own reflecting on the sermon, multiple situations came into my mind and I found myself thanking God for what he has rescued us from and that I don't need to hold on to any feelings of bitterness.  It was a great reminder to thank the Lord for standing by me, for strengthening me, for rescuing me and for allowing the gospel to go forward in spite of any hard times in my life or my family's life.  God's Word is so great.  The pastor couldn't have known when he planned his sermon that day that was exactly what I needed to hear.  By preaching verse by verse and being faithful to his plan, he was covering all the themes we all needed to hear, me specifically.

One final great story....as my oldest boy is off to Angola this Fall, he's on a mission to make money, save money and raise money.  To me it's an unusually high amount - perhaps because of the flights?  I don't know, but he's a little overwhelmed at the moment.  Earlier on in the week I had told the younger kids they could keep the "kitten" money for themselves this time (remember our kitten dynasty?  Still going strong....).  But then, we started reading a biography of the man who started the mission my son is going with SIM (originally Sudan Interior Mission).  This man was 20 years old, one of 8 kids and felt compelled to go to the Sudan in the 1800s.  He had no money and was very concerned about how he was going to raise it as well to go overseas.  But things just started to come together for him as people started to give.  I closed the book and I talked about how the similarities between my son and this man, Rowland Bingham, were incredible!  Both were 20, from 8 kids, going overseas to Africa and needed money!  Fast!  My 12 year said, "Let's give the kitten money to him."  My jaw dropped.  My eyes filled up.  "Great idea," I said.  "Would you really be willing to do that?!"  Yup, they were.  When my son came home that night, my kids handed him his first $50 towards Africa.  And another $50 the next day.  They're planning on doing lemonade stands and selling things online, whatever it takes to help him.  I love that power of Christian literature that moves people, like my kids, as the story is read.  I think my older son was also very moved and now has hope that God is going to answer his prayers.

I have a "week off" now because my husband is spraying the vines so I can't really go near them.  What am I going to do with myself??????