Apple weather

“It is apple weather,” Naomi declared this morning.  My wife then went on to declare that while it may be apple weather, we do not need anymore apples.  Last year I found a retired couple who loved growing and harvesting their own foods, they had grown a variety of apple trees and were now swimming in apples.  It was the end of the season and they said they had 200-300 apples left over.

I thought it was a real win, a generous dozen apples for $5 and a nice drive in the county with my wife.  I was glad I had filled my pockets with cash, because it was more than 300 apples.  We processed apples last year during the week leading up to the Waseca Classic and afterward, every guest to our house cut, pealed, or pressed apples for 3 weeks.  We canned applesauce and cider, froze enough apples for 60 pies or 20 crisps, ate apples and gave away 300+ apples to the church.  It is a year later and “we do not need to process apples this year, but it feels like we should,” Naomi declared to me this morning.

When I go home this afternoon I will put on a half-gallon of cider with a cinnamon stick, and it will fill the house proclaiming that Apple Season is here! I can almost hear Naomi as she walks in the house now, “Yum, it smells so good in here!”  It will smell good, and then we will know to launch into our fall chores of cleaning up the yard and gardens, putting away the grill and moving plants indoors.  Soon enough, the first snows will fall and deer hunting will be in full swing.

Harvest time reminds me of God’s love for us, we have toiled all summer, the crops are ready to be brought in and now we get to see the abundance of God’s provision for us.  Working the ground this year was not easy, we spent a lot of time in prayer asking for rain, but God has continued to bless, and we see His care for us.  I think the hard part is waiting to see His blessing and provision.

James 1:16-18 reminds us of how God works in the world.

16 Don't be deceived, my dear brothers.17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.

We are told not to be deceived by what is going on around us, in the waiting don’t be deceived that God is not at work, in the busy-ness of harvest don’t be deceived that God has not provided enough, in the work don’t be deceived that it is too hard.  God has given us time of waiting, busy-ness, work to remind us that He is giving us what we need, not necessarily what we want.  He will teach us patience, rest, and how to ask for help.

An over abundance of apples may not be what we wanted, but it was what God provided to us.  We are able to eat, preserve, and bless others, but we were not able to do it alone and it was what we needed to do.  He gives us these perfect gifts in His timing as a testimony to His faithfulness and reminder of His loving care of us.  Whether it is a blessing of too many apples or too dry a summer, God is teaching us to praise Him for His work and provision as He teaches us to be more like Him in all things.

He is working these things out for our benefit, so that we may declare to the world through our praise see this is God’s work.  Just like that pot of cider will declare that it is apple season and fall, our actions and words declare how much or how little we have faith in God’s good work.