Grape Jelly and Fruitfulness
It is 5:30 in the morning, and I've been up for quite some time. Rather than bore you with the how's and why's, I'll simply share the random thought that is on my mind at this hour: Grape Jelly!
For those of you who don't know, Jason and I have three grape vines in our backyard. Two are Concord vines, and one is Niagara. When we got our first crop a couple of years ago, Jason's grandma and parents came over and taught us how to take those grapes, mash them up, and make our very own homemade grape jelly. I'll be honest, I'm not much of a jelly fan. But, the stuff was really good!! We passed it out to our friends and family, and got rave reviews and plenty of requests for seconds.
This year, we decided to incorporate our jelly-making venture into an opportunity to raise money for our church. Over the next 40 weeks, Sagemont is on a mission to raise $10 million to build some new buildings. Since every little bit helps, we figured we could sell our wonderful homemade jelly rather than give it away and pass on the money to the church. After all, it was God who made the grapes and sent the sun and the rain and made them grow!
So, a couple of weeks ago, we set aside a Saturday to make our jelly. Many hours and over 20 lbs of sugar later, we had a total of 124 jars of jelly sitting in our kitchen! Somehow God took our little grapes and multiplied them like He did the fish and loaves in the Bible! I couldn't believe we had so many jars! Of course, if I'm going to see you soon and you'd like to buy a jar or two, let me know! At only $3 per jar, it's quite a bargain! (And we also have a special of 3 jars for $10). :-)
Now for the lesson...
The first time we made jelly a few years ago, Jason's grandma let us borrow a few of her ancient cooking tools that were necessary for an old-fashioned craft such as canning. She had a cone-shaped colander and a cone-shaped wooden piece that you use to mash the grapes while they're in the colander. I had never seen cooking tools like them before. Let's face it, in a day of George Foreman's and microwaves, they aren't essentials in the kitchen like they used to be in our grandparents' time.
About a year ago, Jason and I were at an estate sale and found our very own grape-squashing tools just like his grandma's! We snatched them up in a heartbeat and were so happy we found such a treasure before anyone else did. So this year, when it came time to make our jelly, his mom let us borrow his grandma's tools once again, and we pulled our own tools from the garage so we could both mash grapes together.
Immediately, we noticed a huge difference in the two sets of tools. The set we got from the estate sale had a shiny and new looking silver colander and a wooden piece that was perfectly smooth and light golden brown. In comparison, his grandma's tools were dull and used, with a wooden cone that was stained a deep royal shade of purple. Clearly, one set had seen its day while the other had been kept in the dark corner of a kitchen cabinet. At first, the newer set seemed to be more appealing to me. It seemed nice and clean and very "Williams-Sanoma." But, then it hit me...
His grandma's tools displayed years and years of being used for a specific purpose. For the purpose for which they were made. They had been productive and fruitful, and demonstrated a lifetime of usefulness. They weren't dirty or ruined or worn out. Instead, they were beautiful.
It's easy to look in the mirror these days and see myself as "ruined." My ankles are gone; my fingers are swollen, and my girlish figure is a thing of yesterday. But, in reality, my body is simply displaying the effects of being used for the purpose for which God has for me right now. He wants me to be a mommy. He made my body to be used for that special purpose. Sure, on the outside, the woman's body may be prettier and more attractive pre-children. But, when God has a purpose for your life, whether it be parenthood or anything else, a lot of times you come out on the other side stained a little purple. It's the fingerprint of fruitfulness so to speak.
I don't want to look back on my life and see someone who is light, golden brown, with a shiny new finish. Instead, I want to look back and see a life that is a little dull on the finish, with accents that are stained a deep, royal purple. A life that has been used by God. A life that displays His fruitfulness.
Who would have known there was so much to learn from one Saturday of making grape jelly?!
For those of you who don't know, Jason and I have three grape vines in our backyard. Two are Concord vines, and one is Niagara. When we got our first crop a couple of years ago, Jason's grandma and parents came over and taught us how to take those grapes, mash them up, and make our very own homemade grape jelly. I'll be honest, I'm not much of a jelly fan. But, the stuff was really good!! We passed it out to our friends and family, and got rave reviews and plenty of requests for seconds.
This year, we decided to incorporate our jelly-making venture into an opportunity to raise money for our church. Over the next 40 weeks, Sagemont is on a mission to raise $10 million to build some new buildings. Since every little bit helps, we figured we could sell our wonderful homemade jelly rather than give it away and pass on the money to the church. After all, it was God who made the grapes and sent the sun and the rain and made them grow!
So, a couple of weeks ago, we set aside a Saturday to make our jelly. Many hours and over 20 lbs of sugar later, we had a total of 124 jars of jelly sitting in our kitchen! Somehow God took our little grapes and multiplied them like He did the fish and loaves in the Bible! I couldn't believe we had so many jars! Of course, if I'm going to see you soon and you'd like to buy a jar or two, let me know! At only $3 per jar, it's quite a bargain! (And we also have a special of 3 jars for $10). :-)
Now for the lesson...
The first time we made jelly a few years ago, Jason's grandma let us borrow a few of her ancient cooking tools that were necessary for an old-fashioned craft such as canning. She had a cone-shaped colander and a cone-shaped wooden piece that you use to mash the grapes while they're in the colander. I had never seen cooking tools like them before. Let's face it, in a day of George Foreman's and microwaves, they aren't essentials in the kitchen like they used to be in our grandparents' time.
About a year ago, Jason and I were at an estate sale and found our very own grape-squashing tools just like his grandma's! We snatched them up in a heartbeat and were so happy we found such a treasure before anyone else did. So this year, when it came time to make our jelly, his mom let us borrow his grandma's tools once again, and we pulled our own tools from the garage so we could both mash grapes together.
Immediately, we noticed a huge difference in the two sets of tools. The set we got from the estate sale had a shiny and new looking silver colander and a wooden piece that was perfectly smooth and light golden brown. In comparison, his grandma's tools were dull and used, with a wooden cone that was stained a deep royal shade of purple. Clearly, one set had seen its day while the other had been kept in the dark corner of a kitchen cabinet. At first, the newer set seemed to be more appealing to me. It seemed nice and clean and very "Williams-Sanoma." But, then it hit me...
His grandma's tools displayed years and years of being used for a specific purpose. For the purpose for which they were made. They had been productive and fruitful, and demonstrated a lifetime of usefulness. They weren't dirty or ruined or worn out. Instead, they were beautiful.
It's easy to look in the mirror these days and see myself as "ruined." My ankles are gone; my fingers are swollen, and my girlish figure is a thing of yesterday. But, in reality, my body is simply displaying the effects of being used for the purpose for which God has for me right now. He wants me to be a mommy. He made my body to be used for that special purpose. Sure, on the outside, the woman's body may be prettier and more attractive pre-children. But, when God has a purpose for your life, whether it be parenthood or anything else, a lot of times you come out on the other side stained a little purple. It's the fingerprint of fruitfulness so to speak.
I don't want to look back on my life and see someone who is light, golden brown, with a shiny new finish. Instead, I want to look back and see a life that is a little dull on the finish, with accents that are stained a deep, royal purple. A life that has been used by God. A life that displays His fruitfulness.
Who would have known there was so much to learn from one Saturday of making grape jelly?!
posted by Emily Ryan at
5:42 AM
1 Comments:
One look at my wrinkles and you can tell I'm not shiney and golden! We loved the grape jelly and your analogy.
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Anonymous, at 12:29 AM
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