Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Lemonade

Smart girl, Nettie after getting lemon juice squirted in her eyes, ran and got her goggles!
Does anyone dare despise the day of small begininngs? Zech 4:10

I have been "practicing" food storage for a few years now by going to our local food co op and buying in bulk. It is such a satisfying feeling to make and can your own food, in some cases freeze it. Now that we have a few lemon trees and so much fruit I can't give it away I needed to do something with all those lemons falling to the ground.

I gathered them up and took them home. The kids helped wash them off in the back yard in a laundry basket. I then sat down with my little clan and we took to peeling about 50 lemons. (My commercial grade citrus press has yet to arrive) I then threw them into my juicer and got a decent amount of juice. I separated it out into little baggies and added some sugar and tossed it in the freezer. When I defrost it in a pitcher I just add enough water to make it taste great as the lemon juice is pretty concentrated. Now I have enough icy, organic lemonade to feed the family at dinner. I am so excited to get my press and take those lemon trees down. My kids loved it and it cost me a little time, but so worth the look on their faces! They all beg to be the one to have the last bit and more importantly I feel good that the fruit God gave us is not going to waste. I love every little lemon on those trees. In fact my family pretty much devoured the juice from 50 lemons in two days. I hope they grow up with great memories and take the time to do this for their kids.

Lesson:
The bible says to know each man by it's fruit. (Matthew 7:16 You can identify them by their fruit, that is how they act, do you pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?) I think in today's society we have lost touch with the idea of knowing someone by their fruits because in the store our fruit is already sorted, washed and waxed, laid out in nice rows. As I took on the arduous task of sorting the massive amount of lemons, I had to examine each one carefully after I washed the bird poo and leaves off it. I squeezed it, looked at it and cut it open to see if it was juicy and fresh. When we go to judge a person based on their "fruit" we should do more than just look. In some ways you really need to be around that person and know what is going on to see if they are a tree making good fruit. The Lord even says to taste and see that he is good. (Psalms 34:8, Taste and see that the Lord is good, happy is the man who trust in him) There were a few lemons that looked pretty weak on the outside but on the inside they were just fine. So before jumping to conclusions about someone, take the time to know them, to taste and see, to use your senses that is why God gave them to us.

1 comment:

  1. Love your analogy....I'm so excited for you guys. The Lord has given you this property despite what you may have thought you originally wanted. I am happy to see all of you reaping the fruit of it literally already. I love watching and it's wondeful to know that your kids will now have memories of this place that were as fond as ours.....I know we had some hard times out there but my fond memories far outweigh the bad ones. i always tell people I had a wonderful childhood and when I think back a lot of it is because of all the experiences we had on that land and house.

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