Applesauce Memories 2/6/2014

Good Morning,

I knew Friday would return to me. It always comes right on time just after Thursday. My coffee this morning is Door County Caramel Apple. I placed and order for more coffee yesterday. Can't wait to have a little Highlander Grog in the pantry.

Last night we dined on some light Italian Sausages and applesauce. The applesauce was preserved for this winter last fall. We had a pretty large apple harvest  and we are still enjoying the fruits of our labors. We were blessed by God with an abundance. As I was eating the applesauce my mind started to wander and I recalled just how much I love to see the lilac and apple blossoms when they explode on to the scene in our yard. I don't believe that there is any other time that I enjoy our yard more than that short time when all is blossoming. It gives me great peace to see it.

I ran into a man last week who came up to me and asked me if I remembered him. I struggled with my memory. He looked familiar but it wasn't coming to me as to just who he could be. When he told me that I was his youth leader 30 years ago and that he was 44 years old now, married and the father of four I was amazed. I started to recall him as a teen. I didn't see a bright future for him although he had great potential. He went on to tell me about his family and their accomplishments and how proud he was of them.  He also was proud to say, "ask me if I attend church". I always told all the kids that when they ran into me later in life that I would hold them accountable for their church life and Christian growth.  I asked him about church. He replied that he was a church starter in third world countries and had gone to Bible school later in life just to discover that God had placed a call to him for service in missions. I almost fainted! He thanked me for teaching him to listen for God. I always have tried to teach kids that lesson. I never would have thought that he listened even one little bit.  I can't take any credit for launching him into life as a missionary. God did all of that through the Holy Spirit. I do revel in the fruits of my labors though. I was with him the night that he received Jesus as Lord and Savior. Unfortunately his family and us both moved in opposite directions and I lost track of them. Of course I did nothing to "save him" but I told him about Jesus. Jesus did the rest.

Friends like the apple trees, we are never assured of a harvest yet I wait each fall to see what comes. Sometimes it is great and other years not so hot. But each year I prune, water and fertilize in hopes of a harvest. It's the same way with evangelism. We are not assured of a harvest, but we plant a seed and hope. Sometimes you never know just how big or small the harvest will be. But we need to plant   faithfully. Like the apple harvest, we just have to wait and see!

Matthew 28:16-20New King James Version (NKJV)

The Great Commission

¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. ¹⁷ When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.
¹⁸ And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore^[a] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen

So today, don't wait to tell others about Jesus. You never know when they will move and how the harvest might not be reaped because you did not plant the seed.

God bless,
Marty