A lot has gone on this week as we've gone the full circle now. We had two good days to pick our Baco Noir grapes before the rain came this week. It required the whole family, including RM's parents and our crew we've been hiring throughout this past year. It was actually the most beautiful day weather-wise. The sun was warm, the breeze was amazing and the Fall sounds of the birds still around were so beautiful. We were all having an amazing time. I knew people were praying for us and I could tell because everyone's spirits were good and all attitudes were in check - not too much grumping even from those who typically resist all the hard work.
RM was in charge of the whole process and he did an amazing job. From basically dawn until dusk he was picking up bins of grapes that we would fill in the vineyard - all hand-picked, I might add - he'd scoot down in the gator, which he remarkably got going after a summer of sitting quiet from a dead battery (I was so glad that was an easy fix), throw the bins of grapes in the back, sometimes as many as 16 bins at a time. Then, he would go and dump them in another huge 1/2 ton bin and go back and repeat the process all day, always replacing our need for empty bins in the vineyard. It was an amazing process.
The whole time he was doing that, he was also managing another vineyard we farm down the street, doing the same thing there - so he was back and forth between the two vineyards as both vineyards were being picked at the same time.
As if that wasn't enough, when all the grapes were picked in the Bacos, we had to keep going....they needed to be immediately destemmed and the crushed grapes/juice had to quickly be transferred into waiting vats. That meant a lot of work for two of my boys who are thankfully sooooo strong. They would take huge pails of grapes and pour them into the destemming machine, one after another countless times. My one son came down yesterday and described how sore his shoulders were after doing that over and over! But were we ever grateful for their strength as it saved RM from all of that allowing him to manage the process instead of killing himself with the heavy lifting. Even the 11 year old got involved as his job was to remove the bins of empty stems, dumping those bins in the compost pile - what a great job for him. By 7:30 pm we had all the bins of grapes, nearly 3 tons of them, all destemmed and in the vats, waiting to turn into wine. It was an amazing experience to reflect on what had just happened - from plants 3 years ago, to picking the grapes that we never thought we'd see, to processing them - all in one day.
As we continued to reflect, we were in awe of all that God had done that day. RM's parents were involved this week which seems like a nice thing as they knew we needed the help and we did, but there was a much greater thing going on. We started to appreciate our vines so much more when we realized as much as they were helping us, the vines were helping them! After RM's dad's stroke, he just hasn't been the same. He's been much slower, harder to get his thoughts out, a little more frustrated with his inability to communicate quickly, bored easily as he's limited in his what he can do, etc. The vines changed all that. He absolutely loved it and so did his mom. They were given purpose for living. They were outdoors. They were using tools, having to do hand-eye coordination which is so good for his brain. They were working alongside their grandchildren, having a bunch of laughs along the way. They were able to enjoy the Fall weather and get some exercise. It was just so incredibly satisfying, words can't describe, except to say it was the abundant life. Our kids were all in and they always have been, but it was different. They were sacrificing, as they all had school to do, helping their dad, believing in him and his crazy dreams. When we picked the whites the week before, there was a lot of rot. The grapes did not look good due to wet weather and insect damage. I felt disaster feelings and I told my son this. He said to me, "I feel those feelings, too, but I believe in Dad and I'm going to support him no matter what." Wow. That boosted me and encouraged me so much, as well as RM when I told him what his son said. So great.
This was when I realized the power of our vines and how much I love them so much! My kids said in the vines this week, so many times, "WHY DID OUR DAD PLANT VINES?????" One child said, "WHY COULDN'T WE HAVE AN ICE CREAMERY INSTEAD?????" Sorry kids. I know why and one day they will look back and see why we did this, too. It has been hard, no doubt, and very stressful at times, 100%, time consuming, money consuming....all these things, but we have loved how it has allowed our family to work together, to bring in others around us. It has given us a full life, a hard-working life, a productive life and one of amazing industry. It has allowed our kids to see that you have to commit to something for the long haul and that there is no short cut to "fast money". I do wish there was an easier way, but there just doesn't seem to be and my kids are witnesses to that.
We had huge victories this week though as we got into our second restaurant, and a big one at that - one that our kids have worked at that all of Niagara goes to. How we pray we will have success at that restaurant as well as hopefully others to come.
When the Israelites sent spies into Canaan to see if it was a fruitful land, they brought back evidence to all of Israel to show them it was a land flowing with milk and honey. And what was the evidence? Grapes. Huge grapes. A cluster so big they had to carry it on a pole between two men. Well, that's kind of what happened this week. We had so many grapes, more than we expected, almost twice as much in one of the vineyards, we had to bring in extra guys to help. A sign of blessing I would say. It is sooooo easy to not see this.
Ok - so now it is 3 days later - we have now officially harvested all the grapes. This past weekend there was major pressure to get it done as rain was coming. We are so grateful for weather apps that allow you to know the weather in advance! What did farmers ever do before weather apps?! It went from being balmy Fall weather to very cool and damp, nowhere near as fun, yet it was another really amazing experience. I was out there picking in the vineyard down the street from us that is across from a winery we've gone to for over 15 years on many anniversaries. As I was picking the Gewurtztraminer grapes by hand, I couldn't help but remember the first time I had the grape in wine form. I had never even heard of the grape before. I was 9 months pregnant, due any day with our 5th and I was going to have a glass of wine as I had been alcohol free for 9 months and I figured the baby was cooked, lol. So the waitress described the wine and it sounded nice, so I tried it and really enjoyed it. Fast forward 15 years.....there I was across the street from that same winery, but not on a patio enjoying a glass of wine. No, I was in the very vineyard where that grape had grown that made that glass of wine so many years earlier and I wasn't visiting, I was living just up the street, helping to farm that vineyard with the son who was now 15 years old! What a crazy reflection it was! We had driven to that winery for many years and gone up the street multiple times and each time I would say to RM, "Who gets to live out here?" as I felt it was so unfair. Even though my fingers were cold and I was working hard, I was thanking God over and over that day for how He has blessed us.
We were even able to get our skid steer out of axel-deep mud yesterday. It had been stuck in another vineyard for days, but we really needed it out as it was going to get worse and worse with the amount of rain forecasted. I prayed and prayed. RM got really creative with the way he used chains on the back of the tractor and with multiple tries and lots of prayer, out it came. We both just praised God as he had really thought it was going to be an all day thing, but it was less than an hour. Soooooo grateful.
After studying Caleb this week, I fully get why people name their sons after him and his pal, Joshua. But why not name them after Jephunneh or Nun, the fathers of these boys? I wonder why they don't get more credit for raising boys that were so different than those around them. Over and over you see Caleb described as one who "wholly followed the Lord". Looking back on Caleb's life, he would have been alive during the time of slavery. Perhaps his parents helped him to trust God even then as faith doesn't just happen. It is work. He then saw the miracles of the plagues, the Red Sea, water from a rock, etc. He learned to trust God through the hard times and because of the hard times. He had a great resume of faith that allowed him to be recognized as a leader of his tribe which then allowed him to be chosen as one of the men to go as spies. He then rose to the top again and was one of only two men out of 12 who could see past the scary giants who lived there because he had what one commentator said, "the lenses of faith", whereas the other spies didn't even mention God, only the scary things they saw. Caleb continued to trust God and was blessed to be one of the only men to see the Promised Land. At 85 he approached Joshua and said to him,
"You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. 8 But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the Lord my God. 9 And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.’ 10 And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. 11 I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. 12 So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.”
This has to be one of the most amazing passages in Scripture. I love how he reflected on his life, always recognizing and giving the Lord credit for literally keeping him alive and giving him strength even in his old age I also love his boldness, "So now give me this hill country....." I see so much of Caleb in RM. He's extremely unique. He wholly follows the Lord to the best of his human ability. He's experienced the miracles of the Lord so many times in his life he's lost count. He would definitely have been one of the two spies to see past the scary giants as that's who he is, never falling into what others see. He has the rare ability to see opportunity and isn't afraid. He would say his strength is failing and perhaps isn't as strong as he was at 40, yet he is still strong and to me doesn't act his age at all. And the most amazing part is years ago we prayed that God would bless us with land. We longed to move to the country. I even dared to pray, without knowing this verse even existed, that we could live on a place with rolling hills. Who prays prayers that specifically? I just liked the idea of not living in a flat place. I wanted a view! Well, guess what? We were given "hill country". We literally live on top of a hill - the escarpment. And, we live on top of a hill on top of the escarpment - the highest place in our little town, we've been told. So high in fact that at one time, during the war, our land was used as a transmission tower for the army. Joshua blessed Caleb with the hill country and then "the land had rest from war". We are still at war in a way, fighting to make a living, fighting the land itself, the weeds, the weather, yet we see the blessing of God in our life because of the lens of faith. As long as we keep that lens up, we won't fall into the trap that the other spies did.
So - a long reflection, but so many amazing truths, just from being in the vines these last few days. I could never have known all these things that would come out of living here. It is not an easy life that is for sure, but it surely is an abundant one.
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