once again--an answer

It was just yesterday I asked the question about serving. Not one time did I ever think it was wrong to serve my family before someone else, but at the same time I wondered about the amount of time I was spending cooking and baking or doing other things that didn't really need to be done. I remember in bible study saying, "I have all these promptings that involve baking or cooking for others, yet I feel 'how could I keep serving in that way, I am struggling to actually find time to be with my kids unless I have really really planned out meals."

Meals. take. so. long.

And now with Peter being gluten-free it takes even longer to make everything from scratch, unless you want to spend 3x as much money, which I am not willing to do. Tonight before bed (because I can't sleep now) I was reading this really cool book "Loving The Little Years". I think it would be best if i just typed word for word what she said to say about 'bearing fruit'.

Psalm 128: Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olve shoots around your table.

 In reference to bearing fruit, she talked about an apple tree and how it bears fruit many times during the season. It is constantly dropping fruit; some get used, and some, well, rot. She asks:

But what does this apply to in real life? Well, think about yourself and about the things you do. Look at it like fruit. Are you holding yourself back on things, afraid that the end result will not be worthy of your labor? Are you afraid to fail? Is there some domestic activity that you would love to know how to do, but don't want to try in case it doesn't turn out? Are you afraid to try new recipes? Are you afraid to put energy or money into something that might turn into nothing? Do you evaluate the necessity of everything, passing it by if it doesn't add up to be practical? Are you limiting the branches upon which you are willing to bear fruit?  Speaking for myself, I have sometimes let cultural admiration for efficiency get into places that it doesn't belong. For ex. I am working away on something and just cannot shake the question "Why am I doing this? Is this a ridiculous use of my time? Should I be doing something that matters, rather than (say) knitting a costumed mouse?" But it is very freeing to laugh at yourself--laugh when you know that apple you were just working on may very well fall to the ground, and who cares? But the chances are good that the more fruit you make, the more fruit gets used. The more you throw yourself into heavy branches, the more inviting the fruit, the more people it is likely to feed. Some of those apples are likely to fall to the ground and rot. But God uses rotten apples--to fertilize the ground, to start more apple trees after animals plant them. You cannot know the dept of His plan for your fruit. So what if you don't have a plan for it in the future? Waste it. Waste homemade pasta on your family. Don't save cloth napkins JUST for company. Sew a dress your daughter doesn't really need. Be bountiful with your fruit and free with it. The only thing you can know for sure is that God will use it.

Refreshed.... always amazed at God's perfect timing.