Apples, Apples, Apples

Fall at our house is synonymous with apple harvest. We have about 9 trees that bear fruit, whenever and how much they choose each season. This year is a good bearing year. Even though I did not spray my trees this year, my apples are wonderful. No bugs, no worms. Several of the trees did very well.

So now it is time to use all those apples!

Apple pie, apple bread, apple strudel, apple juice, apple turnovers, applesauce, apple fruit leather, dried apples, fried apples, apple piekins, apple pie bars, apple cake, apple crisp... You get the picture!

 And we are not done.

We have yet to make apple rolls, apple dumplings, apple topped cheesecake, apple upside down gingerbread, apple jam, apple syrup, apple salad, apple butter, apple pancakes, apple cobbler, caramel apples, apple coffeecake, apple muffins, apple cookies...

We do actually get tired of them and then we freeze them! (For later!)

I used to can hundreds of jars of vegetables, but with a smaller family at home, I have quit that. But I love my apple trees and how they provide so much variety for us in our desserts and meals.
God has blessed us!

"Who's My Friend"

Today in church we heard the story of the man who fell into a pit and cried out for help. A doctor walked by and when the man asked for help, the doctor stopped and wrote a prescription and tossed it in the hole. A pastor also walked by and the man cried out again. The pastor told him he would pray for him. The third man that walked by was the man's friend. When the man cried out for help, the friend jumped right in the pit with him. The man asked his friend why he jumped in and the friend replied," I jumped in with you because I have been here before and I know how to get out!"

Have you ever felt like the man in the pit? Have you ever cried out for help and felt no one was there for you? Did you ever just feel stuck and alone?

Or can you relate to the pastor or doctor who only wanted to help if it didn't take too much from them? Or are you instead the friend ready to jump in the pit with the man?

I think I have been all of them at different times. I have been in the pit and I  have not been helpful to the one in the pit. But at times, I have been the friend. I wonder though if I have been the friend often enough...

A young woman in church was visibly upset today. She is someone I don't really know. I see her almost every week, but I don't even know her name. Yet I knew from the moment I saw her that something was wrong. I could read her face and see her pain. I watched her the entire service not knowing if I should approach her or not. I didn't want to make it worse. Finally at the end of the service, I made my way to her to see if I could help or pray with her. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "Who is my friend like that?" She cried as she said it and my heart broke for her. I had no good answer for her. I tried to encourage her, to tell her I would pray for her, and I told her I cared about her. I am not sure it was enough.

It really made me think. Am I that friend to others? Have I missed out in not jumping in the pit with others? I keep hearing her say,"Who is my friend like that?" I wonder how many others in church were feeling the same way. How many opportunities do we lose out on to be a real friend? Will I be ready to jump in the pit to help a friend out next time?

I am praying my eyes will be opened and my heart ready to respond. I want to be that friend whenever God asks me to.