Blessings From The Storm

Storms come and storm go.  This past week we had a typhoon roar it's way up our side of the island.  While it had pretty much dissipated by the time it made its way this far north there was still quite a lot of wind.  Yesterday I got a text message asking if we wanted apples.  Apples that were still slightly green and quite beat up because of the storm, but apples nonetheless.  Sadly the apple grower cannot sell these pour beat up beauties, but because of a friend, a garbage size bag came to our house.

As I type, the worst of these are now simmering in the crockpot becoming apple sauce.  It took a little more effort to get the job done because they had to be peeled & sliced by hand rather than using my peeler & slicer, but the end result should still taste the same.

 

A couple more become a cake.

I am going to attempt to let the remainder ripen up a little.  They will need to be closely watched because storm ravaged apples can go bad quickly.  It is much the same with people.  Storms come, in nature and in our personal lives.  The wind whips us, bruises us, and knocks us down.  When storms hit we need a little extra care.  Sometimes it seems like it would be easier to simply give up, throw ourselves away, rather than care for the bumps and bruises.  But if we let the LORD pick us up and wash us up, bandage our wounds and take care of us, we can still have an amazing life.  We may not be as beautiful, by the worlds standards, as before, but that doesn't make us any less valuable.