Brothers

Thoughts from a Combine

Last week, Judah, Caleb and I rode in the combine harvesting mom's last wheat field of the year. I was struck during our time there by how God provides through the earth, how orderly and fulfilling is His creation; crops, seasons, rain, animals, fruits... beautiful as well as functional. I couldn't help thinking while sitting in the combine, watching the massive machine turn agile corners, though still leaving bundles of wheat behind in neat triangles at the end of every row, of this verse to the Jews from the book of the Law.

9 " 'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God."

-Lev. 19:9-10; Deut. 24: 19

What mere leftover of God's abundance have I offered the stranger, the orphan, the widow, or the poor lately? Surely I have more to give than fallen fruit.

(More pics to come from this leg of the trip later)

Our Independence Day

Get Down, Get Down...

Wild and crazy times on our mid-west tour! Actually, the above picture was taken at Vacation Bible School last week, so not that crazy! Tim's brother is the education minister at the church here at Tim's mom's place, and he conducted VBS. The boys had a lot of fun in their classes, singing songs, and making crafts. Caleb got to go to the water carnival Friday night that closed out VBS, and from what I hear he jumped until he dropped in the moon jumper. Judah and I went to a friend's wedding in Missouri for the weekend. Judah was SO well behaved. He met some new little friends, and soaked up all of the one-on-one Mommy time. I think he was overdue for some of that. I enjoyed catching up with old friends from college and having a much needed mini-break. It was a blast to see who was balding, who was reproducing, who lived where, did what, and dreamed of achieving this that and the other. We need more reunions like that. I drug Judah off of the dance floor at a barn dance after the wedding at 1:00am Sunday morning (that boy's got some moves...), and we came back to Tim's mom's house after a short sleep. In fact, when he woke up after about 6 hours of sleeping, he said, "I want to dance more!" I wish I took pictures of Judah dancing with the beautiful bride. She carried him and danced with him for a long time. It was precious. If anybody did gets pics of that, send them to me. We're off to my mom's on the farm later this week for some bonfires and tractor riding. We are so blessed to have dear friends that span decades and family to turn to in order to help make the time go faster when Tim is away. Happy 4th!