Canning and Freezing 2015

Just a record of our canning and freezing for 2015 and
notes on what produce we bought from the auction and when.

We will add to it as we add to our storage shelves and freezer.

Sweet Corn - 27 quarts (August 26)
Crab Apple Jelly - 7 quarts and 5 pints (August 27)
Spaghetti Sauce - 113 quarts (September 9-22)
Tomatoes for chili - 35 quarts (September 24-25)
Winter squash (frozen) - 13 quarts (October 1-2)
Applesauce - 121 quarts (October 3-13)



Bought:
10 - 1/2 bushel boxes of canner tomatoes @ $6 a box ($60 total)
160 Winter squash @ $0.25 a piece ($40 total)

A Christian response in suffering.

Yes, I know that a blog is for words. But this blog post is going to be less about written words.

In thinking through the grieving process and what the Bible has to say about it, I shared yesterday three ways that the truth of the Bible needs to impact our grieving / suffering.

1) Truth needs to define our suffering
2) Truth needs to limit our suffering (defining the limit)
3) Truth needs to relieve our suffering.

Those are just the key concepts. I cut off part of the introduction of the message when I recorded, but here is the bulk of it.

"Christ's Sacrifice: A Help in Our Suffering"

Just a reminder to keep looking up in all of life's circumstances.

The greatest gift in sorrow - permission to grieve

Our week has had its share of ups and downs. The downs center around the loss of our unborn baby. The ups have been much more varied:
       God's love and goodness have been repeated ups.
       The love and kindnesses expressed by friends and family in word and deed.
       Seeing God's hand at work.
       Knowing God's peace.
       The assurance of faith (The substance of things hoped for - Hebrews 11)
       Some 'down time' to spend together. 

But the best 'up' I have enjoyed is the permission to grieve. I have often heard people say "It's OK to grieve," "You can be sad, you know," or "You just need to cry it out." Those words, in and of themselves, do not give a person permission to grieve. It gives them a verbal declaration of their approval, but it communicates to the mind instead of the heart.

Permission to grieve comes in so many forms, it is hard to identify. It comes from sadness expressed by friends and acquaintances. Something so simple as an "Aw, I'm sorry" said with genuine concern, to people who say "I don't even have any words to say" have communicated that permission. Permission comes in the validation of feelings. Not telling me how I should be feeling, how long I should feel it, how I should move on, or even what I should expect. Just the simple communication that it is OK to feel what I feel. No one has told us we are doing it wrong. No one has told us we should be in better shape, or in worse shape. No, we have been loved. That love has given us permission to grieve and we are thankful. Our friends and family have lived out Job's advice in Job 6:14 - "To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend"

Though we still feel we are walking in uncharted territory and don't know how we are supposed to proceed, we are glad for the leeway to proceed as we feel is right for us.

Miscarriage: On the loss of a child. . .

I have been tempted to write a post since yesterday, but keep procrastinating as I am out of the blogging rhythm. The theme of my blog has echoed in the circumstances of our lives this week, and it was only a matter of time before the post was written.

Jen was about 4 months into her 10th pregnancy this past week when some signs of trouble surfaced. We have 8 beautiful children, and have lost another to an early miscarriage. After the signs of trouble surfaced we made some calls to get things checked out. Before the tests could be run, things got worse, and our Dr. told Jen she wanted to see her in Labor and Delivery at our local hospital. By 2 am Tuesday morning, we were in the hospital and waiting for an ultrasound. The hospital staff was wonderful. We were concerned, but kept our hopes up.

The ultrasound technician was wonderful, but we could see between the lines and read that something was wrong. We didn't ask, knowing that her job was hard enough that morning and she probably wasn't allowed to say anything anyway. We got back to the room and soon found out that the baby was not as old (by size) as the pregnancy. The baby had died several weeks ago, and Jen's body was starting the process of delivering the baby.

Since not many people talk about it, we were not very well equipped to make decisions. Did we want the body? Would we have a funeral? Did we want to bury our child? Were we supposed to be sad? Were we allowed to be sad? Should we side with the easy feelings or grapple with the other feelings that were surfacing? Should we shrug it off or were we allowed to grieve.

We know what we believe - a baby is a person the moment of conception. That biological process starts off a chain reaction of cell division, reproduction, differentiation of cells and tissue and organ development that just 9 months later ends in the birth of a fully developed baby. Most of the time. Not this time.

The baby was delivered in the amniotic sac intact. The doctor told us she thought the baby was a baby boy. At the moment of decision we were both low on sleep, confused and decided that we were not prepared to see the baby. We did not want to bring the body home. I didn't realize that I would never be prepared to see the baby but would soon want to see the baby. I didn't realize that holding the baby would be something I would not only want to do, but would be a good step in grieving, in processing what had happened. I cannot undo my choices and I am not stopped from grieving. I am just missing a precious opportunity I had.

It is now a little over 2 days after the delivery of our baby that died several weeks ago. I still don't know much more than I did then, but I have learned a few things.

The things I have known all along:
        1) God is good. He always is good.
        2) God has blessed us in so many ways, more than this blog can hold.
        3) All life is precious.

The things I have learned:
        1) Grief is good. Not just in the "Consider it all joy" sense, but in many ways.
                  Grief has allowed me to feel God's goodness expressed through friends and family.
                  Grief has allowed me to place a value on our unborn child.
                  Grief has allowed me to set aside my pride and accept the love and service of others.
                  Grief has allowed me to sense God's comfort.
                  Grief has allowed me to focus on my hope as a believer.
        2) God's love is enough. As much as I appreciate the love of my family, my
             wife, my children and my friends, God's love is on a whole different level.
        3) Hope is a choice. I've known this, but I have learned it in a deeper sense
              this week. We are saddened with our loss, but are not devastated. We
              have questions in our minds, but are not disillusioned with God. I still
              know God is good.
       
I know, what this post is missing is a verse. A whole verse. But I want to post 2 chapters. Wednesday evenings we have been studying the Psalms. Last week we studied Psalm 127, this week was Psalm 128. If I was disillusioned, I might feel that God was playing some sort of harsh trick on us. But even in the timing of viewing these Psalms, I see God's perfect timing and God's goodness.

Psalm 127-128

127 Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

3 Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

128 Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in his ways.

2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.

3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.

4 Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord.

5 The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.

6 Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel.

The Psalms speak of God's goodness. Goodness I can see and feel even in the midst of our trial. That's about it from this end. Keep looking up!

Rebellious Children

I suppose you might expect me to start in on what one of my children was doing in vague terms, or maybe, alternatively, to wax eloquent about how to raise children that don't rebel. If you are looking for either of those sort of posts, you will probably be in for a surprise. It's not that my children are perfect, or that there aren't some truths in the Bible that can help us deal proactively with rebellion in the hearts of our children. It solely has to do with the book of Ezekiel.

Ezekiel speaks a lot about the rebellion of the people of Israel. How, despite many warnings and interventions by God, they continued to choose a path of rejecting His authority in their lives and continued to choose less than adequate substitutions for God in their lives. It is easy to sit back and shake our heads at the foolish Israelites, it is easy to agree with the judgment God was preparing to mete out in His anger - He had every right to be angry with them! Right?

But what about us? Good, Christian us. We thank the Lord for our food. We know how to look up a verse in the Bible, maybe even can recite the books of the Bible in order. We pray for other people, we give money to the church, we put in our time being Christians. Certainly we wouldn't be labeled as rebellious! Ezekiel wrote to people facing God's judgment who thought everything was OK much as Jesus spoke to people under judgment (Herod was their King) who thought everything was OK. And we are a people who live in a 'Christian' nation and think things are OK. Well, we wouldn't be as blind as the people in Ezekiel's day, right? The Jews being carried away as captives to Babylon - we'd notice judgment that severe! We'd notice the oppressive government over the people of Israel in Jesus' day as judgment and recognize our needs!

But have you ever noticed how many wrong people there are out there and it doesn't very often seem to be me? or you? When you drive, do you notice your reckless driving and the laws you break (maybe passing on the right, speeding, rolling stops, unsafe lane changes, 'beating' the red light . . .) or do you notice how many other morons are on the road? Right, me too.

It makes me wonder if the same blindness impacts us when it comes to God. I don't have to wonder long. David recognized his blindness and asked God to search him, try him, and see if there was any wickedness in him. He knew he couldn't always see it.In Ezekiel 20, God repeats 3 times that the actions He took were "for my name's sake."

"But I wrought for my name's sake that it should not be polluted

 before the heathen" (Vss. 9, 14, 20)

But Israel could only see the unfair treatment they were receiving from God. Again and again Israel was polluting God's sabbaths and going after other Gods. Easy for us to see, in their situation.

So should we see judgment in every hardship? Absolutely not! (After all, we'd far more likely apply the "everything bad is judgment of God" attitude to others long before we did it to ourselves.) We'd be just as wrong in doing that as in not being willing to see our own rebellion. Ezekiel 20 also focuses on the mercy and grace of God. It repeats again and again all that God did for the people of Israel and all that He will do for them to fix the problem of their rebellion.

As rebellious children (since maybe we ought to assume we are, rather than assume we aren't), we need to focus on God's mercy. Our need for God's mercy, God's goodness in showing us mercy, the depth of God's mercy that each of us requires. And along with that, we need to place a priority on God's name. As a Christian, we carry it. If God is jealous for His name sake, and we are polluting His name by the lives we live, the thoughts we entertain, the things we feed our minds, well, we should realize that everything isn't as OK as we think.

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 

even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with 

Christ Jesus (by grace ye are saved)" Ephesians 2:4-5

If God did that for us when we were dead, just think of the greatness of His mercy he has for his children, and the great desire he has to see us walk in truth!

What is stopping you from answering the call?

When it comes to God's call on our lives, we have a pretty stock set of excuses why we can't respond the way we know we should. "I don't think I can do that," "I don't want to do that," "I'm afraid of what it would look like if I answer God's call," and even "I'm a Christian, isn't that good enough?"

No, it isn't good enough. God's call goes out to all mankind, and the first call that every person has from God is the call for salvation. God is not willing that any should perish, and He has given the call that "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." People have lots of excuses for rejecting the call for salvation, as well, but I want to focus on what comes next. Salvation doesn't occur in a vacuum. The Bible tells us that "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." Our salvation is accomplished through the Word of God working in our hearts to bring forth faith. Easy enough.

But what comes next? Next, God's call on our life continues. God's call to live holy, God's call to sanctify ourselves, God's call to righteous living. This call is resisted, fought against, and misunderstood. Some fear they will have no fun if they live holy. Some fear they might have to give up something they enjoy or love if they clean the house of their life to sanctify it. Some take this call and try to accomplish it through regulating themselves into some sort of holy-looking submission. Add a bunch of "Do this's" and "Don't do that's" into your life and try to look the part of holy. Between these fears and misunderstandings, it is a wonder that people ever choose to follow Christ. The truth is that sanctification comes the same way salvation by faith comes. It comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. "How shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy Word." "Now ye are clean through the Word I have spoken." All through Scripture, God's call to sanctification is accomplished through His Word. Get in it. Get it in you. Learn, and watch God do the work. "For it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure"

And our further call? Calls to service, whether as a husband, wife, father, mother, pastor, teacher, salesman, artist, musician, etc. God's call is always to do all to the glory of God. God's call is to make disciples of all nations. God's call is to serve where He has placed us. And it is accomplished the same way - through His Word. "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. . ." is not just a nice way to spend a Sunday, it is the only way to live a life that please God. If faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, and if it is impossible to please God without faith. My logic skills from math tell me that it is impossible to please God without hearing His Word. Without being in His Word. Without studying and soaking in His Word.

The long and short of it all? We can throw out our Christian to do lists "turn every conversation to the gospel," "encourage depressed people," "say this," "don't say that," "do these things," etc. All of which produce guilt in us because we can't possibly do them all. Replace these lists with one thing: dwell on God's Word. Don't read it to check off a box. Really meditate on it. Read a different passage everyday, read the same passage every day, read a prophet, read poetry, read a gospel. Just read it. You will see God for who He is, you will feel the purifying effects of His Word on your life, you will hear his unique call in your life to service.

Just a few thoughts today, keep looking up!

Can you hear him calling?

In our house, there are many noises that can affect a person's ability to hear. We have named each of our noises. We love each of our noises. And we have come to realize that sometimes our noises keep communication from being as effective as it should be. Many times, our noises will respond to a question such as "Why didn't you answer me when I called?" with "I couldn't hear you."

This past week, we started into the book of Ezekiel. It is a book I have been putting off (officially the 4th from the last book I will preach through - 61 books down, 1 in process for the last 2 years, 1 just started, and 3 'untouched' books of the Bible). I put it off because it contains quite a bit of imagery. I put it off because it is a fairly long book. I put it off knowing that it would be one of my favorites when I finally got into it. I was right.

The first 3 chapters discuss the call of God in Ezekiel's life. Starting with God calling Ezekiel from where he was, and showing Ezekiel a glimpse of God's glory, majesty, power and awe. Ezekiel's call continues with God telling him it wouldn't be easy - the people he would go to were rebellious. The message he would carry would be sweet - but would also turn bitter, much as the gospel is sweet, but a failure to respond to God's call results in the bitterness of judgment. Finally, God shows Ezekiel that following his call would be worth it.

*Confession* - I went into Ezekiel to attack the first 3 chapters in one shot, got all the way through them in one message, and managed to cover it all without getting it all covered. God tells Ezekiel that his duties were to give the message that God gave him. He was not responsible for the results. No matter how people responded, Ezekiel was to give the message, and God would count that as a success for Ezekiel.

But we like to try to control the results. We like to feel like a failure if things don't go the way we want them to. People don't respond to a message by implementing all the great suggestions we give, people don't follow our sage advice about how to do something, children learn the hard way rather than listen, and on it goes. We feel like we didn't do the best we could. We let the results impact how we view our efforts. In a very real sense, when serving God, we often hear a different call. God calls us to be godly friends, and we hear that God calls us to have all our friends respond positively to God. God calls us to be godly parents and we hear that God calls us to have godly children. God calls us to a ministry and we hear that God calls us to 'succeed' in that ministry by whatever standard we impose.

Sometimes, we just miss his call completely, sometimes we hear his calling wrongly. Either way, the problem is noise. Not the noise of precious children running around. Not the noise of construction projects. Not the noise of neighbors having a party. But noise. Noise that blocks us from "Being still" and knowing that he is God. Noise that keeps us from paying attention to a still small voice. Noises like the desire to be a success drowning out other sounds. Noises like pride, selfish ambition, greed, ungodly thoughts and thought patterns we have programmed into our minds.

When I struggle to hear something, I don't turn up the noise that is distracting me, I minimize it. When it comes to hearing God, we have to turn down the volume on the noises that distract us.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. - Romans 12:2

What to do today? Find some of the sources of noise in your life and turn them down. Turn off the TV with its nonstop advertising, turn off the radio, stop feeding yourself noise and expecting to hear God's voice. Stop trying to conform to the world, and allow yourself to be transformed by getting in God's Word and letting God's Word get inside you.