Prepping for Fall

The last month of "summer" has been a busy one for us. I like to get all my major organizing/cleaning projects done. (I can relax and enjoy homeschooling so much more when I don't have messy corners).The majority of my food canning and freezing is done. All the kiddoes medical appointments are uptodate. It took a lot of careful scheduling and hard work to get all of this done before the first day of "public" school!

We peeled and peeled and peeled some more...

Several hundred jars were washed...

Sweet peppers in a pickling juice, free from local produce stand.

Pears canned for pie filling, free from a friend!

The rest of those free pears in a sugar syrup and the last 2 quarts of peaches.

My outdoor tomato set up. Tomatoes are a messy, dirty not fun job!

We canned 20 quarts of tomato soup, 45 quarts of pizza sauce,  50 quarts of tomato juice and approx 25 pints of salsa. That was a big, messy, extremely tiring job!

We also canned and froze peaches, 7 quarts of frozen peaches. I am still working on canning peaches. I am doing one bushel every couple days. So far we have approx 30 quarts. I may have to quit... Depends on my energy level.

We are doing 100 quarts of applesauce on Friday, with the assistance of several church ladies. That will be a huge project.

But I feel blessed to have shelves of food prepped, food that is healthy and has very little "crap" in it. The kids LOVE opening jars of food they helped prepare. There is an incredible sense of satisfaction that comes with the hard work of canning.

Pray For Us

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

    his love endures forever.

2 Let Israel say:

    “His love endures forever.”

3 Let the house of Aaron say:

    “His love endures forever.”

4 Let those who fear the Lord say:

    “His love endures forever.”

5 When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord;

    he brought me into a spacious place.

6 The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.

    What can mere mortals do to me?

7 The Lord is with me; he is my helper.

    I look in triumph on my enemies.

8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord

    than to trust in humans.

9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord

    than to trust in princes.

10 All the nations surrounded me,

    but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.

11 They surrounded me on every side,

    but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.

12 They swarmed around me like bees,

    but they were consumed as quickly as burning thorns;

    in the name of the Lord I cut them down.

13 I was pushed back and about to fall,

    but the Lord helped me.

14 The Lord is my strength and my defense[a];

    he has become my salvation.

15 Shouts of joy and victory

    resound in the tents of the righteous:

“The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!

16     The Lord’s right hand is lifted high;

    the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!”

17 I will not die but live,

    and will proclaim what the Lord has done.

18 The Lord has chastened me severely,

    but he has not given me over to death.

19 Open for me the gates of the righteous;

    I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.

20 This is the gate of the Lord

    through which the righteous may enter.

21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me;

    you have become my salvation.

22 The stone the builders rejected

    has become the cornerstone;

23 the Lord has done this,

    and it is marvelous in our eyes.

24 The Lord has done it this very day;

    let us rejoice today and be glad.

25 Lord, save us!

    Lord, grant us success!

26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

    From the house of the Lord we bless you.[b]

27 The Lord is God,

    and he has made his light shine on us.

With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession

    up[c] to the horns of the altar.

28 You are my God, and I will praise you;

    you are my God, and I will exalt you.

29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

    his love endures forever.

   

Encouragement

So often going into grocery stores with a big family can be a challenge. I also don't like getting a sitter just to grocery shopping. I shop at little amish stores as much as possible. But I do occasionally need to venture into the bigger stores with the whole crew. Today was one of those days.

It didn't start off very well. I finally had breakfast done, the house cleaned up and the kids all dressed and ready to go. Someone was supposed to put the wheelchair lift down, but listening promptly wasn't a huge priority this morning.

So we were all out by the van trying to lower the wheelchair lift. But we had no power.. so we  called a neighbor for jumper cables. Apparently someone had left the lift turned on for a week, a week of not driving the van and the battery had died. sigh.

Finally on the road, but still concerned about the battery, especially since we need to operate the wheelchair lift for every in and out and we had a whole list of errands to run.

We stopped at the first store, GWood. The boys,  both 10, were nominated to stay in the van, which we locked but left running. There were only a few cars there so I was sure they would be safe.

In the store, with a loudly singing, arm swinging, Nesiah in a wheelchair, another child who is 8, but was acting 2, one who was tired and grabbing EVERYTHING, and one was helpfully pushing the shopping cart, I tried to rush through my shopping list. I have someone making a bunch of freezer meals and HAD to get the ingredients today.

At one point we passed this older mennonite lady and one of my darlings attempted to grab something in her cart.. she looked a little disgruntled, I apologized and kept moving. The next aisle we accidently blocked the entire aisle with my entourage.

At the check out I realized I had forgotten garlic powder, which I needed for the one recipe.  I was trying to maneuver the wheelchair, the grabby kiddoes, the grouchy kiddoes and the shopping cart through the one open check out line when I saw a shelf with some seasonings. I asked Elizabeth to fetch me a jar of garlic powder. It was within eye sight, but there were two carts between us and the rack. She was not impressed and after 3 tries came up empty. I was to far in line to go back myself for it and I KNEW I had seen it, but she was "unable" to find it.
I turned to empty my cart for check out. Frustrated because I need the garlic but not wanting to take my whole entourage out of line. I turned to find the lady, the same lady we had cut off etc.. earlier holding out a container of garlic powder for me.
Not only did she help me out. But something in her compassionate look told me she understood my frustration.

She was an older woman, shopping alone. She could have yelled at us. She could have complained. She could have rolled her eyes at the chaos we had. Instead she chose to reach out in compassion. It was such a small thing, yet so big to this momma.