THE HARVEST IS PLENTIFUL....

Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few." Matthew 9:37

Look what I found while out harvesting the vast amounts of wild black raspberries in our woods and fencerows! Suddenly I came upon this little nest (wren?). Later I went back to take these pictures and saw Mrs. Wren leaving the area in a hurry. I am so blessed to live in the country and get glimpses of these little treasures that go unnoticed by the fast-paced world. If I hadn't been up close in the thickets, this little gem of a site would have been missed. It was carefully hidden way back at the edge of our woods in a bramble of berries when I happened upon this nest.

The scripture I cited above became so real to me as I tried to harvest the berries the last two evenings. The ripe berries are so thick it is humanly impossible for one person to pick all of them. I found myself leaving many behind, becoming choosy and gravitating toward only the largest berries to save time. I felt really bad that so many other berries were left to dry out and be wasted, but I simply had no one to help me harvest. Jesus words are so true. The harvest of souls out there waiting to hear the Gospel is great! We need more laborers (equipped Christians) to get out into the harvest fields and start sharing the good news!

 

The above picture is me standing on our back deck after my first berry-picking expedition Wednesday evening after work. I got almost 5 qts., as you can see and that was all from one fencerow. I left two or three other prime areas untouched. Do you like my outfit? It included a tight-fitting bandana under the straw hat, long, baggy pants and hunting boots as well as the long-sleeved shirt. Picking conditions are not friendly. Thorns, bugs, spiders, mosquitoes, possibly ticks, poison ivy, uneven ground, etc, etc.

Here are the berries on my Mom's kitchen table awaiting their "bath." I picked almost as many on Thursday evening too.

Look what berry-picking does to your hands! My fingers and nails are still stained this morning after two separate rounds of picking the berries. Harvesting is hard work!

Here are the berries dripping through the homemade jelly bag. I place an old cloth diaper (never used, of course :)), over a large kettle, secure it with clothespins and then the cooked berries drip overnight and strain through the cloth to make a clear liquid for jelly.

I hope to get to the actual jelly-making today sometime after I weed the garden, put the wash on the line, and cut out play dresses to take to my granddaughters! Busy day! 

Remember the harvest.....it is plentiful! And though the harvest conditions are tough and it can be hard work, the rewards are sweet! Blessings, LORI