Tag: family

Why I Don’t Go Apple Picking

~ Barbara ~ 6 Comments

This is the time of year when New York State’s orchards get as crowded with eager apple pickers as its city streets are with pedestrians. It used to be an annual outing for our family, until the last time, which was in the fall of 2004.

We trekked up to Maskers in three cars to glean the apples we would turn into fall goodies, like apple crisp or pie.  Homemade apple sauce, however, was our favorite. The countertop held Grandma B’s old apple mill, and plastic containers were lined up to receive the sweet, warm sauce. Kids from young to old waited with spoons, ready for their first taste. But I’m digressing. Back to apple picking.

Our daughter Stacey was our adventurer and added sparkle to our family. She had her eye on a lone apple hanging from a tree apart from all the others. Because her father was wrapped around her finger, they tromped through mud and over a fence to reach the one perfect apple that Stacey just had to have.

It was silly, but obviously memorable to us, and its telling has grown sweeter with time because, less than two weeks later, Stacey left us when the Lord lifted her from her bed and brought her home. And that’s why I don’t go apple picking anymore.

The remembrance is too sweet and the missing her would be too sharp, even 21 years later. It’s a memory we savor as we look forward to walking with her through Heaven’s orchards, where every apple will be a perfect apple.

Forgive my nostalgia, but I share this to encourage you to take time to create memories. Set a date, face the traffic, and go apple picking!

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him. Psalm 127:3

I am Thankful for Family

~ Barbara ~ 2 Comments

My husband and I have been married for 56 years. We raised five children and are blessed to love 11 grandchildren. They are the ones I love the deepest and pray for the longest. Rich and I are each one of five children which gives us a wide spectrum of nieces and nephews, near and far, whom I also love and pray for. In this large family, not one is perfect. Not one is without problems. Some have distanced themselves. But they are “my people” and I am profoundly thankful for each one.

Additionally, my “family” extends beyond those numbered above. I have friends who have walked beside me in my happiest experiences and through my greatest sorrows. They have balanced me and cheered me on. They have overlooked my flaws and embraced me in my inadequacies. They know me at my worst but believe the best for me. They are “my people” and I am profoundly thankful for each one.

Then there is my church, which proclaims, “This is home. We are family.” And so they are. We are united in faith, merged in worship, and joined in love. It’s a large church so I only know a small fraction of the people, but I can walk up to any one of them on a Sunday morning for a hug or a prayer. It is a safe place where together we learn and grow, give and receive, fall and get up. They are “my people” and I am profoundly thankful for each one.

In the broadest sense, I have “family” all around me, walking my neighborhood and circling the globe. Whether they acknowledge it or not, we are our brothers’ keepers and all trace back to Adam. Therefore I will pray for them, care for them, and support them as I am able. I will resist pigeonholing and refuse name calling because each one was made in the image of God—they too are “my people.”

You may not have a large (or loving) family but we are not meant to do life alone. I encourage you to stretch. Reach out and touch someone. Be a blessing. And be thankful for whomever God has given you.