What a day! I am just getting to the end of a 12 hour work day of everything from laundry to gardening to berry-picking to grocery shopping--oh, and meeting with the publisher! That was so exciting to sit and make plans for the sequels to "The Fields of May." Probably the most exciting for me is the wonderment that comes with designing the next book cover and seeing what it actually looks like when done!
I was so thankful that my back held out today as I tried to catch up on all the things that have had to lay dormant around here while I was babying my tender muscles. This morning I took some leftover mashed potatoes and decided to make bread with them. It's not often that we have leftover potatoes and they are so good in bread. I haven't made bread for the longest time and I was thrilled with the results. I used some old honey that had become sugary instead of white sugar and threw in the potatoes, a little whole wheat and white flour and a few minor ingredients and a few hours later we had the most awesome batch of bread. The taste and texture were wonderful. It did hurt my back a bit as I tried to knead the huge blob of dough, so I divided it in half and threw it in my heavy-duty mixer and let that do the kneading!
As the day wore on my back improved. I tried to pick black raspberries, but the four-wheeler wasn't cooperating. I didn't want to walk the whole 18 acres. Finally I got it to run, got out to the far end of the property and it wouldn't start again. Just then I saw Rhiannon up at the house. She had gotten home from work and I hollered at the top of my lungs for her to come help me. She drove the truck across the field and was able to start the 4 wheeler. I rode back to the house to get bug spray--mosquitoes were vicious today--and then it wouldn't start again. I was pressed for time because I had the appointment with the publisher. The berries were at their peak, plump and juicy. So many were ripe today and I ended up not being able to pick nearly all I should have. I ended up walking back out there and picking my way back to the house while Rhiannon worked on getting the 4 wheeler to run long enough to put it back in the barn. I ended up with a pitiful pail of berries compared to what I picked the other days when they weren't even at their peak! Not a very fruitful endeavor--pardon the pun!
As I was working outside today (probably taking laundry to the line) I noticed a bumblebee on the deck rail. He was covered in yellow pollen dust. He acted slow and sleepy. I guess it would be hard to walk if your tiny body was covered in dust! As I watched him, I realized that he was doing a valuable job that goes unnoticed. The way God designed things, if all the bees didn't do their menial little tasks, we'd not have flowers, fruit and so on. Seeing him brought to mind the fact that there are all kinds of things going on around us that we never know about. It made me think about the spiritual realm where lots of things go on that most of us never clue in on. Take for example, the account of Elisha and his servant in 2 Kings 6:15. As the Syrian king made war against Israel, Elisha kept receiving knowledge from the Spirit of God as to his battle plans. The king became very frustrated at being constantly discovered. When the king found out that Elisha was the one thwarting his plots, he sent a great army out to find him. In the morning when Elisha and his servant were surrounded with a huge number of horses and chariots, the servant asked Elisha what they were going to do. Elisha told him not to fear. "So he answered, 'Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.' (Vs. 16) "And then Elisha prayed, and said, 'Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.' Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha." Wow! There was alot going on unnoticed in the spiritual realm that day! Think how many things go on each day that we never know about. It's an amazing thought. We go on busily with our daily lives and never consider what all is being done for our benefit that we can't even see!
Another lesson from the bee is this: I was busily hurrying around all day doing every imaginable task. Sometimes even with all the accomplishments in a day, I get the feeling that my jobs around the house are not all that important. I realized that the bee goes unnoticed with his pollen distributing but if he didn't do it, alot would be at stake! I think it's that way with women, especially young mothers who stay at home with children. Some days seem kind of mundane and you wonder what impact you had on the world. Believe me, as a mother of children who are now adults; take a lesson from the me and the bee: you are doing a valuable service that the world desperatley needs. No one can take your place and if you decided to just not do your job, someone will eventually suffer. No one may notice you right now, but the future will tell the impact of your life! Bee encouraged!
The mystery flower is looking more like a yellow yarrow--yippee!!!! Stay tuned, Blessings, LORI
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