The Fruit Beginnings

In botany, I learned that fruits differ. Apples and pears are pommes. Pommes reproduce themselves by blossoms. The ovary of the blossom houses the true fruit of the plant...its seed.

We tend to think that the flesh of the apple is the fruit.  That is not so.  The developing ovary of the blossom gets fleshy and sweet.  As stated above, the true fruit of the plant is its seed.  The seed will reproduce itself.

With that little science lesson behind us, let me tell you of my current project. Our apple trees continue to bear. I have one wire basket and 1/2 of a bushel basket full of apples to process. They have enough food value for us that I will save as much as possible. Yesterday I made a nice batch of applesauce in my crock pot. It takes 5 hours to cook enough to make a nice chunky sauce and the crock pot has not scorched the finished product. I like that. I will finish working with the apples as soon as I can. Working with apple after apple I make some observations of how they parallel with truth.

Outsides differ with cores and seeds within.

While I sat at the table busily peeling the apples, I noted that every apple is not the same. Some are bruised, while others are firm. Some are large and others are small. Some are pretty and inviting, while others look tough and unappealing. Yet, regardless of their outward appearance, the apples all have seeds. You will recall that the seed is the real fruit.

That truth brought me around to thinking about how people are like these apples. We all look different. Some of us are not as attractive as others. Some of us are not as young and thriving as others. Yet there is still an inner part of us that remains in each of us forever. We each have an eternal soul that will live on forever. It has such value that the eternal God sent his Son, Jesus, to earth to make provision for our souls to live eternally with Him. By his death on the cross for our sins, if we believe in Jesus, He gives us the right to become his children. (John 1:12)

I am so glad that outward appearance does not determine our value.  It is the condition of our hearts and soul in relation to Jesus that matters. Put your trust in Him. Believe in Him.  Your heart and soul matter.  God wants to have you for His child.

photo credit: Wenda Grabau
photo credit: Bretta Grabau

Shortly after 7 A.M., I hung out my husband’s laundry.  I spied a lone, young white rooster lingering at the door of the hen house that must have failed to come in the brooder house at dusk.  He spent the night outside.  I walked to the brooder house so I could assess the situation more closely.  I decided to leave the rooster alone.  But now that I was this far from the house I walked over to the garden.  I found my first cucumbers.  They measured 1-4 inches long, so I picked them.  I also picked a small bouquet of dill for making pickles of my first-of-the-season cucumbers.  I snipped some basil. Two nice zucchinis got my attention.  I took them.  My arms were filling up fast.  A fresh, green head of lettuce lured me and I picked that.

In the kitchen, I scrubbed the cucumbers letting them soak in water for one hour in the refrigerator.  Meanwhile, I found my “Best in the Word Dill Pickle” recipe and started to make the brine.  I washed my jars, assembled my canning equipment and by 8:30 A.M. my daughter joined me.  She shredded my zucchini and, as a duo, we prepared the batter for 2 loaves of zucchini bread.

By this time, my husband came in for breakfast.  The timer buzzed; time to pack the pickles.  I dutifully packed fresh, aromatic dill and the cucumbers in the jar.  I poured hot brine on them and sealed the jar.  We completed the the finishing touches on the bread.  I buttered the loaf pans and my daughter poured in the batter.  By 9 A.M., the loaves were baking in the oven.  Ah, what a “feel-good moment”!  We still had the morning ahead of us and two food service items were already accomplished.

While I am not always an early-bird riser, I so enjoy the satisfaction of getting extra things done before breakfast.  The aroma of cinnamon wafts through the house as the bread bakes and the morning is still young…another “feel-good moment”.

Photo Credit: Bretta Grabau
Photo Credit: Wenda Grabau

The Brooder House

We have a couple of houses for our chickens.  One houses the laying hens and a rooster.  The brooder house keeps the new chicks warm in the cooler temperatures.  The oldest chicks are one week old.  The newest were hatched last Monday.  They all need special attention to thrive.

Baby chicks must be kept warm.  Since our chicks are not being raised by a mother hen with her warmth and protective cover, we must supply the heat for their survival.  Heat lamps are the answer.

We hang heat lamps above their pen.  It must be monitored.  On hot days we adjust the lighting to use less heat, on colder days we use more.   The lights will be used night and day until the chicks are mature enough to survive without them.

The interesting thing about the lights is that when they are shining during the day, it is very difficult to notice them.  But during the night, it is clear to us whether or not they are shining.  The same amount of wattage shows in the day and in the night, but the light is more easily seen in the darkness.

Jesus made the statement, “I am the light of the world.”  The Bible says in John 1:4, 5, “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.”

Jesus, the Light of the World, is always shining into our world.  He shines when we think we can see into our future and things look pretty good.  He is also shining when we cannot see for all of the darkness that clouds over our lives and when we don’t see a good outcome to our future.  Just like the lights in the brooder house, He is shining.  Yet He can be spotted more easily in the dark.  Whether your life in easy now or you are hemmed in by darkness, look for Him.

Hint: Look for Him in the Holy Bible.

sketch by Wenda Grabau
photo credit:Wenda Grabau