Blessings by the Box

I thought I would shock my 5 readers by posting twice in a week, lol! We are having a slight warm up this week. I wouldn't call it an Indian Summer but we are in the upper 50's, low 60's this week and it is glorious. No jackets, hats or gloves, just sunshine and falling leaves.

On Sunday we enjoyed the potluck following the church service. Potlucks are interesting, aren't they? Some are tempted to assign the dishes to ensure a good variety, but that would be a pot-plan, not a potluck! Who cares if most of the dishes are dessert?? Not me. Now, in truth I might care if the table was dominated by squash and lima beans but it is the unknown that makes it fun. Our kitchen crew usually does a big main dish and this time it was chicken and stuffing, yummy stuff. There was plenty of variety and this time, yes, we were loaded with desserts. Brownies, pumpkin pie, carrot cake and more, mmmm. The best part was that the fellowship hall was packed out! We had to scramble to add more tables. Food and fellowship are always a good combo to draw the crowds.

Later Sunday afternoon, we had another unplanned opportunity. I have told you about Farmer Butch, the man with the fruit orchards. He is an incredible man of faith, with a big heart. We are currently collecting money to purchase Thanksgiving boxes through Angel Food Ministries. These boxes will be given to families in need in our church and community. Well, Butch offered up a box of apples to go with each food box, the only catch was the apples needed to be picked. So, I made an announcement at the potluck and several people showed up to help. Butch had a trailer hooked up to the tractor and we got a fun, bumpy ride out to the orchard. We decided that 25 half bushel baskets of apples would cover our needs. Being the well-equipped farmer, he gave us straps to hook onto the baskets so we could work hands free. Those straps were the bomb!! We were picking big, beautiful Rome apples and in 15 minutes (maybe even less), we had every basket filled to the top. We hopped back onto the trailer and enjoyed an apple on the way back to the barn. But the fun didn't stop there. Butch let us run the apples through the washer/polisher machine. I really wish I had thought to bring my camera. This machine is an oldie and so cool! The guys carefully emptied the baskets onto the conveyor belt at one end, the apples traveled up the belt where any leaves or debris were removed, into the washer and out onto these foam rollers that polished the apples clean. From there they rolled down onto a rotating platform where we packed them back into the baskets. We joked how it felt a bit like that episode of I love Lucy where they were working on the assembly line at the chocolate factory. Once they were all packed up, Butch put them into the cooler where they will stay until we need to deliver them. The whole process only took one hour but every bit of it was so fun. I like that the boys get to be exposed to so many different things and in this case, learn what it takes to get an apple to market and be part of serving someone in need. Butch shared a bit of his heart and why he wanted to donate the apples. It was a blessing to be part of blessing someone else. In a couple of weeks we will deliver a big box of food, along with a big box of apples to several families. When God's people work together, needs are met. It's a beautiful thing!

If you have never heard of Angel Food Ministries, I encourage you to check it out. Each month they offer a box of food for $30.00. The retail cost of the food averages around $65-80 and will feed a family of 4 for a week. There are also convenience/senior meals, produce boxes and meat boxes available. The best part, if you eat, you qualify! We can all use a little help on our budgets these days. The boxes are also a wonderful way to bless a family in need. If you spend $60 on groceries at the store, use that $60 to buy 2 Angel Food boxes, one for yourself and one to share. You can go to their site and enter your zip code to find a church near you that distributes Angel Food. At church, we distributed our first boxes this month and it was indeed a blessing. And the food is good. This month we are enjoying strip steaks, eggs, fajitas, ham steaks, frozen veggies and more. The only item in our box that we don't like...lima beans. Lucky for us, we found someone who likes them so we are happy to pass them along ;).

Hugs from the R-ville Harps!