Blessings One by One

​I’ve been hard at work preserving this year’s harvest.  We have potatoes, apples and peaches aplenty. Not to mention the few jars of jam, corn from Marla and sausage that we helped process with the family. When you think in terms of what has been harvested and the abundance of all the produce it is hard to remember that the rest of the year has been so difficult. No matter what, God is still working to provide for us and bless us. So often it is easy to focus on the tough times and the unpleasant things that we face that we forget how extravagantly we are loved and how much God desires to bless us. It is so important to remember to count our blessings because even though they come one by one they add up to a surprising amount of goodness in our lives.

​Take for example our apricot tree. This year was not a good year for apricots. Apricots are one of the first fruit trees to bloom by nature but unfortunately we had a late freeze and the blooms did not go on to produce much fruit. We looked everyday trying to find a few green apricots just to give us hope of some fruit to come. Finally one day I found one and then another I counted at least a dozen and thought to myself, that’s enough-enough to know that the tree was still trying and doing what it could to produce a bit of fruit. Sometimes I feel like this, so worn out and tired, so much to do, I just need to be able to get one meal on the table on time, one more load of dishes cleaned, to give me that boost of confidence to finish the week strong. Five more minutes of patience with the boys, one more little “thank you mom,” one more little kiss-enough to know I’m doing alright and God is still there, reminding me through these small blessings, that I can do all things through Him.

​The few apricots ripened and I froze enough to fill a gallon Ziploc bag to make into jam later. Turns out I had enough apricots for one whole batch of jam and it made five jars. It was nothing like the apricot bounty we had two years ago but you know what we still have one jar of jam from that batch in the freezer. It actually worked out perfect even if it was only five jars.  Peaches on the other hand have been quite plentiful this year and I have never made peach jam so I made a batch of that as well. My mother also has an abundance of raspberries and has promised to bring us some jars of that too. I even have some strawberries from last year in the freezer that I could use for jam if I need or want to.

​Sometimes God chooses to bless us abundantly-like the 400lbs of potatoes Caleb came home with last week. It is amusing and also a blessing to be able to bless others with the abundance God has given to us. Though sometimes God blesses us with just enough for what we need today. He did the same with his people in the dessert with the Manna and the quail. The quail came in abundance till they were even sick of quail. The manna came each morning, enough to fill their daily needs. No big feast, simply enough to carry them till the next day. It is good for us to remember that God is faithful to us everyday even if only for our daily needs and nothing more. Every blessing is just that, a blessing to be counted and added to God’s faithfulness to us for whether big or small He is indeed always faithful.