Sunday Spiritual Thought

Proverbs 14: 23 In all labor there is profit. This scriptural quote hung on my refrigerator for a year. A reminder that everything I do holds a lesson and every moment spent with another holds lessons I'm teaching them whether good or bad. The same of course holds for others too. So when I look at my garden, I'm looking for lessons I've learned and the next move to gain a greater education.

Yesterday, I was looking at my grapes. Because they weren't large doesn't mean they failed. They produced three batches of jelly from three plants. Not too bad considering where they are growing. I'd moved them once but I'm seeing I might need to try some transplants in another hotter area of the yard. The one the raspberries occupy and haven't liked.

Another example, my buckwheat hasn't exactly done what I'd planned. I had hopes to have a small grain crop but alas. They said it wasn't cold hardy but I wasn't sure if that meant when it was just young which equates to, don't plant too early in the spring. Or, if it wasn't at all cold hardy when mature either. My questions arose when I saw so many growing it after their first crop.

Two frosts later and I now know it isn't cold hardy when in flower either but the buckwheat growing by the west fence faired far better than that in the middle of the garden. Good to know that that area is quite frost resistant. Though things aren't quite like I wanted, I still have a good cover crop and I've gained some knowledge. Knowledge gained while my finances could afford me the opportunity to learn it. Not when someday I might seriously need to grow buckwheat to eat. I know that day is coming. The scriptures foretell it and the handling of our countries finances foretell that we will need to suffer a righting of the run away spending.

So I tell myself over and over again. Never give up. Never surrender for as

Eistein says, "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

He also said that, " Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in coveralls and looks like work."

The best gift we can give our children is to teach them to work and how to enjoy it. Success is laced with it, work I mean. I'm not talking about the success that many today call a successful person. Some of today's so called successful people need a good cleaning. I'm talking about making something truly good of yourself and that often doesn't equate to dollar signs attached to your name.

So when I saw that the wild game whether they are deer or antelope, I'm not positive but I have my suspicions, had been nibbling on my grapes. I rushed to harvest them and put them in the old juicer. Most of my canning equipment is twenty-five years old or so since I've been canning all my married life and assisted my mom some with the canning she did. The old juicer sits on our newer stove and the juice seeps into an old gallon dill pickle jar. One that no longer fits in a moder refrigerator. It sits on a wooden stool from my early childhood. Since I turned 51 last week, that means it is really old and missing a few rungs. Probably symbolic of the owner I suspect.
When the grapes were juiced there was just seeds and pulp left in the top compartment.
This juicer is a far more easier way of doing the task than using cheesecloth and straining the berries. I do have the Victorio strainer that is suppose to do berries if I had only the berry screen and I've been tempted to buy one. Can anyone who has one advice me about whether it is worth the cost? Then I took the juice and made a triple batch of grape jelly.
Since peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are in big demand these days. The jelly will be muchly appreciated. Definitely more tasty than the store version and with less sugar to boot not to mention chemicals. Yes, in all labor there is profit.

So my advice on this bright Sunday afternoon is look at your labors and see the profit. Don't call them failures unless you've given up. If the task is worth doing then never give up, success might just be around the corner.