Faith, Selflessness, & Harvest Blessings

My life has been somewhat chaotic as of late. Time to spend on the things I enjoy has been thrust aside so I can fulfill obligations & help others. I must not complain though; I'm so blessed to be able to help those who need me! One verse that has kept me going is this:
"Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people."
Colossians 3:23
It's hard to work happily, though, when you feel like you are just filling in for someone else's selfishness.

Lets be honest - humans are selfish by nature (at least, after these several weeks, I've known this to be true). But we don't have to be nor should we! To live as a servant of our God means we can rest assured he will provide, just not always in the way we want!

I'm not perfect by any means!! I even have moments where I doubt life moments will work themselves out and improve...so I struggle with completely trusting God to handle it. As hard as that is to admit, once I did, I have made a very much needed effort to work on my faith. And wow, what a difference I've noticed!

Here's a good example:
As I said, it's been a hairy several weeks for me, as far as life is concerned. To top it all off, our weather has taken a drastic turn into below freezing temperatures, something I, and my garden, were completely unprepared for. As I went through my days, I worried about having enough time to pick my last crops and preserve them before the frost destroyed them. But my days kept getting filled with other things and unexpected expectations, and my garden sat idly, through frost & thaw, neglected.

As frustration set in, I was reminded of how we need to help others in their times of need (no matter how selfish we feel their reasonings may be) and to trust that God has a plan for us. And when I was able to see that, I noticed something about my precious, yet very frost bitten garden: while the plants are all dead from the frost, my actual produce was almost completely unscathed! So late Friday evening, with gloved hands, I hurriedly picked any last thing my garden had produced. After about two hours, I was completely amazed! I was a garage full of ripe tomatoes, three large boxes full of green tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, bell peppers, jalapeños, cabbage, and a very large box of winter squash!

I've been working diligently to preserve it all...and so far, so good! I am truly amazed at how much we have been blessed with, even after giving much of it to neighbors and giving much of my time to others. For me, this was a truly faith building experience!

While life is seldom easy for any of us, we must try to see the glass as half full. Learn to help those who truly need it and trust God to work it all out!

Enjoy!!