The Climbing Peach Trees

We have two peach trees climbing up and around the southern side of our house. They come up real close to some of our windows, but I have yet to open a window, pull out a screen and pick one. One of these years I will just have to do it.

You could call these organic peaches. They are not consistently sweet and sometimes they have earwigs in the middle of the pit if it splits while on the tree, but I love to watch this fruit blossom and grow.

Every once in while we get one that tastes like the ultimate peach. The taste that reminds you of when you first got to love them as a kid. And then I understand why this fruit can be used to describe someone extra sweet.
If you have not already done so today, visit mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com

and try the peach cobbler. Well, you'll have to make it first, but this dessert just can't get any easier or better.

Calling Me

I feel like I've let the beautiful days of summer pass me by without sitting on my special chair. Always something to do . . . it's all been good . . . but the other day I was determined to get some time out there. One of the drawing perks was something that came in the mail.

This was motivation to get my work done . . . a sealed magazine into which I couldn't even take a sneak pre-view.

Finally the moment came . . . the moment when the possibilities of what I'll find inside are practically endless! In fact, sometimes the best part is exactly this . . . just opening it.

Blueberry Picking - Then and Now

As a child, living in Vancouver did not exclude me from the almost annual summer adventure of spending some time in the berry patch. Now that I look back it probably had more to do with keeping the three of us occupied and learning to work, because - money – we did not make much!
My parents took us to Abbotsford and simply arranged for us to stay in a cabin that the farmers provided for “campers.” I remember one or two summers my grandmother even coming along. That was before the year I was put in charge of my younger siblings . . . which happened to be the last summer I picked.

The other night we went out to get some blueberries. I’ve noticed that, over the years, berry farming has greatly improved and I don’t believe my perspective has much to do with it.

If we’d had these kind of bushes when we were kids, it would have been a completely different story! I remember bushes so tall and bushy that you could not see who was on the other side . . . and they were not nearly as laden with berries as these little ones are.

So . . . that is all I want to say . . . berry picking can be quite an enjoyable and relaxing time now . . . no strawboss . . . no dodging of flying berries . . . and no pranks such as getting locked into the outhouse. Just one hour . . . 30 lbs between the two of us . . . on a quiet summer evening.

When I got home I rinsed the berries, let them dry on trays overnight and put them in ziplock containers to freeze. This is the easiest fruit to freeze and use all winter long . . . in blueberry pies, scones, pancakes, muffins, Platz or simply added to smoothies, cereal and fruit salads. They thaw quickly by putting them in a colander and running cold water over them.

My Other Birthday

We all celebrate the day we came into this world. It was not a day chosen by us, in fact, we had no say in being born but every year we celebrate this gift of life given to us. Although my Birthday is coming up soon, this weekend I am reminded of another day that had everything to do with a choice. It was August 7, the summer I turned eleven, when I attended a Summer Vacation Bible Club.

I don’t remember what the exact theme of the week was, but it had something to do with preparing for a trip. On one of these evenings, our teacher told us how we all start off in life on a wide road, the end of which leads to physical death. Somewhere along this road, when we hear of God’s love and desire to have a relationship with us, we are confronted with a choice to accept or reject. To invite Him into our life will lead us to a narrow road, because not everyone will choose that road.

That evening, I felt my heart pound, as it had done for some time whenever I felt this evasive spiritual truth spoken into my life. The truth was that I needed God to forgive my sins and receive assurance of life in heaven. We were asked to bow our heads, close our eyes and raise our hand if we wanted to admit this spiritual need. I don’t know how something so simple could have been so difficult. Pride was holding me back, but God knew my desire. My raised hand was noted by the teacher, who later prayed with me as I asked Jesus to forgive me and to come into my heart and life.

I was only a child. I could have been deceived. However, as I’ve walked the narrow road, I’ve only become more aware of how true and life changing this decision was. The peace of knowing that He who gave me the breath of life is also able to give me spiritual life and purpose is beyond what I can describe. For every stage of life, the good and the bad, He has been there, just a prayer away. He has shown Himself to me through answered prayer, his leading and words of affirmation in my heart. I now know that He is real. Just like the wind comes along and, although I can't see it, I can see its evidence, so I’ve found it is with God.

My faith in Jesus is a relationship in which He has done the part that provides salvation. I desire to do the part of living a life of gratitude to Him, for seeking me and finding me. Amazing Grace!

Cousins and Second Cousins

At Oma's Birthday Picnic there were three special young ladies catching up on life . . . three girls who spent every Birthday together from when they were babies to whenever it was that they stopped having parties. Not just Birthdays, but Sunday afternoons, sleepovers and camping trips! Younger sisters followed suit, but it began with these three . . . and suddenly one of them came to me and asked if I would take a picture.

It was one of those moments when I looked through my viewfinder, and this is really what I saw . . . two sisters whose names ran together . . . carolynbonnie . . . who both wanted to be next to their cousin Julene . . . so of course she always had to be in the middle.

At the same picnic, I also came upon two little second cousins . . . children of two of the cousins above . . . enjoying the swing.

Somewhere along the way I remembered mommy and her cousin in an album somewhere . . .

And thought . . . it's all good and still okay for second cousins to kiss on the swing.

All Because Two People Fell in Love

We were gathered together to celebrate her 93rd Birthday! Ninety- three years old . . . now so alone and yet not, with more than 100 people who, in one way or another, share her name. Her oldest children talked about retirement and ailments or shared their pride in their adult grandkids. Her younger children chased after their own grandchildren, making sure they didn’t get lost. With the spread, it was hard to tell where one generation ends and where the next one begins. That’s what happens in large families.

The tables were laden with large bowls of salads, fried chicken, ham, cold meatballs

and Zwieback . . . which, until not that long ago, were always made by her.

Her Birthday cake was a carrot cake with cream cheese icing and dried pineapple flowers.

I asked her if she was enjoying her food . . . she said she could hardly eat… the only way she could express her feeling was to say that inwardly she was crying . . . all these people . . . from one mom! Well, I wanted to say that she did not give birth to all of us, but I knew what she meant.

People were spread all over the beautifully landscaped yard . . .

babies on highchairs or on a blanket,

young children on swings,

or chasing the candy man.

Young adults playing volleyball

and others catching up on life in general.

Now I realize this all sounds like a long country song . . . but for this day it was real . . . a real family . . . just taking one day to be in one place to reminisce and give thanks.
Thanks for a Mom, grandmother, and great-grandmother who has made it her mission to care about each individual in her family for as long as she is able to.