Apples

This week has gotten off to a great start!

On Sunday, the Waller family (of thirteen) visited our church and shared their testimony. Read about them at http://www.hayovel.com/. This month they are traveling around the country in their big red bus telling people about their family's work in Israel and how it all began. On the side of their bus it says, "Israel, the apple of God's eye." Sometimes as Christians we ignore the many references to Israel but God commands us to pray for the peace of Israel. Here are a few verses and comments that I copied from the Hayovel site.

Why is the work in Israel important?
Israel holds a special place as a prophetic people. Prophetic means to tell what is going to happen, like a prophet. Through Israel we can see the spiritual climate of the world - it is the center of the world. As time ticks down to the coming of the Messiah, the nations of the world will focus on Israel. Ezekiel 3:5

Why should I care about Israel?
God, the creator, neither slumbers or sleeps concerning Israel. Psalms 121:4 If we want to know our heavenly Father we will look into His eyes. He says that Israel is the apple of His eye, the very center of His eye. Zechariah 2:8 When we look at Israel we can see God. To be disconnected from Israel is to be disconnected from God.

Pray for Peace
Psalm 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love you.

God's Perspective
Zech. 12:9 "It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem."
Zech. 8:2 "I am very jealous for Zion, I am buring with jealousy for her."
Isaiah 49:14-16 "But Zion has said, 'the Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.' Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you."
2 Chron. 6:6 "Yet I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel."
Psalm 132:13-15 "For the lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place: 'This is My resting place forever; here I will dwell for I have desired it. I will aboundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her poor with bread.'"

Franklin Springs Media made a video documentary about the Waller family and their transition from city living to rural community life and to Israel. It is beautiful! http://www.franklinsprings.com/films/journeyhome/

We truly enjoyed the Wallers' singing, dancing, speaking and just down-to-earth sharing about Yeshua in their lives. And we will be more faithfully praying for the peace of Israel as a result of their testimony.

We were picking apples this morning. It's not really the season, but they are falling off of the tree in Ms. Ennis' yard and she is moving today. She asked us to pick them since she knew we'd make applesauce with them and otherwise they'd go to waste. (She does not ever want anything to be wasted) We've been trying to help her with this move in various ways, but this was a request that seemed to be for our blessing, rather than hers. That's how she is, always blessing others, even when under the incredible stress of moving out of her house!

It's hard to see the pickers since the branches are so low, but since Kelsey took the time to take pictures, I decided to post them anyhow. This is Joy, Mary, me, Noah, and Anna.
Here are Mary, Joy and Kendal.
Ms.Ennis is a box collector, and has been anticipating a move for over a year, which increased her box saving. The house was packed and the contents were already relocated but she still had some leftover boxes today and couldn't bear to see them wasted. So she asked us to fill the boxes with apples.

This is a small portion of the applesauce that came from Ms. Ennis' apples. The applesauce is easy to make, organic, free, and Kendal and Kelsey are making it together! What more could a mother ask?

Ms. Ennis has been a tremendous blessing to our family over the last fifteen months, therefore her move is very bittersweet. She suspects we will only miss her pool or ironing. But that is very far from the truth.

In April 07 Ms. Ennis hosted the Hendry family and a Shelley Hendry Ladies' meeting that I attended at her house. Ms.Ennis wanted to find a way to bless the Hendrys after they'd returned home, but realized that there were other large families that live much closer whom she could help. When she called me offering to help our family, I only knew her as the mother of my dear friend, Joy. I've never let, or asked, anyone to help me do anything at our house that I can remember. But I had been feeling very overwhelmed and somewhat sad about mothering "all alone" so I had to say "yes." I believe she was God's answer to my prayers.

My mom, who had always lived only 20 minutes from us, had recently moved nearly eight hours away. Our family had no outside activities, except a very small house church on Sundays. And we rarely had any guests in our home. Ms. Ennis' Thursday visits/workdays at our home made all the difference. Suddenly there was another person in our house to see what really happens in our life. She was a constant encouragement in every way. Ms. Ennis loved us all, inspite of the faults she observed from week to week. I never felt condemned, disappointing to her, or judged. I realized that she was truly a Titus 2 "older woman" to me and to the girls in our home.

As I was able to swallow my pride and line up "work" for her, we became more comfortable with each other. Then she offered to teach Kendal and Kelsey to smock. We started sharing lunch, recipes, books, prayer requests and even a new church service for a short time. I loved that Bob's clothes were so neatly ironed each week. When summer came we were able to "relieve" her guilt over having an unused pool, by swimming in it! ha, ha! What more could a mother of seven ask for than a private swimming pool surrounded by beautiful flowers and attended by a gracious lady who helped watch the little ones in the pool?

I'm so thankful to have been on the receiving end of a Titus 2 experience. It is very rare to have multi-generational experiences in daily living. Modern day homeschooolers and mothers of many children do most of their work in isolation, in contrast to their foremothers, who lived in community in rural settings. Alone, we try to do what the women of the past did with their extended family all around. Spiritually speaking it's dangerous. We need accountability. We need someone to tell us that all our hard work is not in vain and that it will reap beautiful fruit one day. If the Lord tarries, I hope my daughters and I will become Titus 2 older women.

Ms. Ennis will ultimately be living very near to one of her daughters and their family of eight. So I cannot be sad that she is moving away from us. It is a dream come true for all of us as we've prayed for the Lord's will in this. Her house sold in four days. That is a miracle. She has collected every orphan book, basket, window, piece of wood, twine, etc. for years; yet she has managed to pack up her whole house and MOVE! That's a miracle!

By the way, a family at our new family worship service, just moved into our neighborhood this week! I mentioned them in a previous post: the Wards have six boys and one girl. They now live one block away! After we picked apples, we went swimming at their house this morning.

God is so good!