Monday, October 15, 2012

You Say Tomato, I Say Blessing

We planted a garden again this year.  Once again, we probably got too late of a start to have much of a crop.  The weather -- hot and very, very, very little rain -- didn't really help our chances of a bountiful harvest.  In fact, I was going to be shocked if we got a single tomato off any of the six plants we had.

Several months back, we got a whopping 15 peas from the two rows of plants Lawrence had painstakingly made into straight lines, measuring each hole to make sure it was the proper distance away from the last.

We had four rows of green beans, and surprisingly, we got two huge bowlfuls of beans from them.

The tomatoes have really knocked my socks off.  As of late September, we had picked maybe five tomatoes.  The plants themselves were doing extremely well, growing like vines.  Literally.  I had never seen tomato plants do that before, but they were all over the place and tangled up like a box of Christmas lights.  I was determined to have some yummy red tomatoes, seeing as how the vines were chock full of tiny green balls.  And so I went to the store, bought some twine, and set to work untangling and tying up those vines.  I guess all my hard work (with some help from some much-needed rain), paid off.

Today, I picked an entire bowl of tomatoes.



It is the fourth one we have collected, and there are still PLENTY of green tomatoes left on the vines, just waiting to turn red.  Ironically enough, two of the tomato plants had even fallen over due to the ground being too wet.  How's that for a turn of events after a hot, dry summer that resulted in cracked dirt everywhere you looked.

As I brought in my heaping bowl of tomatoes, I was reminded yet again how good God is, how abundantly He blesses us.  Here I was thinking we might, if we were "lucky," get a handful of tomatoes, and now I have tomatoes coming out of my ears!  Oh me of little faith!

In the same way, God has blown me away with His answers to my prayers as of late.

*Lawrence and I have been praying about starting a Bible study for the kiddos who go to Ponca, then come home and don't really have any sort of follow up or discipleship.  Last night, we met with 5 families who are super excited about working with us to get this "Ponca and Beyond" group going.  One family is opening up their home every Sunday evening for the Bible study, and the other families have volunteered to bring snacks and send out e-mail invites to their children's friends.  Our first meeting will be next week!  I am stoked to see what God is going to do with this Bible study!  We are praying it is just the beginning of something very, very, very, very, very, very HUGE that God is doing in the Liberty area!

*We have also been praying about selling our home.  To make our house competitive on the market, we simply had to put on a new roof.  Understandable, but waaaaaaay too expensive for us to do any time soon. And so, we started saving.  God blew us away when we received a check in the mail to pay for the cost of the roof!  Hopefully, by the end of the month, the new roof will be on and a "For Sale" sign will be in the front yard!

*After losing a daycare kiddo, finances have been pretty tight.  God has been oh so faithful to provide, though, as He always is.  I have a childbirth class coming up, and I have been praying and praying for God to send me FIVE couples/students.  With that many couples/students, we will be able to cover what I lost in daycare income.  Well, the class starts on Sunday, and I have FIVE couples/students who have enrolled in the series.  For a cherry on top, I have a SIXTH couple who will be taking a one-time class next month since the class day/time doesn't work for them.  THREE of these six couples are considering hiring me as their doula too!  I have been praying for opportunities to attend more births and expand that part of my "business" as well.  God knows the desires of my heart and has shown me His goodness in answering my prayers, above and beyond what I had even dared to dream.  I am  so extremely thankful to Him!

So, as I go wash my bowful of tomatoes, I will be praising my Jesus for His abundant love and extravagant kindness.  I am blessed beyond words to be a daughter of the King!

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