unexpected harvest

One day our family took a boat ride out on a day's excursion to a tiny island in S.E. Asia.
It was Mark's birthday, and by his request we went hiking through the wilds of the island. 
The things we will do for one another in this family to celebrate milestones!  

 

 As we rounded a corner, I was surprised by the sight of this man, 

harvesting basket loads and boat loads

not of fish, 

but of fresh seaweed from the sea.

This boy's job was to sort and clean the seaweed

We never really know, do we, what kind of harvest God will bring from fields where we serve? 

In my limited perspective, my expectations of how He will work 

are far too confined for our amazing God. 

I expect fish every time, but there are other things He's harvesting.

If I would just stop and notice the good things He's growing,

right here and now,

I might not overlook the seaweed in expectation of the fish.

How many times do I pray for His hand to work in a situation,

but then neglect to see how He's doing good things, 

because I'm so focused in anticipation of the end result I desire?  

Or waiting for the solution that I expect?

His ways are not my ways.

His thoughts are not my thoughts.

But He holds back no good thing from those who fear Him.

...it is faith he is looking for, a quiet confidence that whatever it is he is up to,

it will be a wonderful thing,

never mind whether it is what we have been asking for.   

- Elisabeth Elliot

What good thing is He growing in and around you today?

I didn't forget!

“Why don't you choose a plant to take home?”  We were at the house of our friend, Ate Fely, last January for a special event, when she proudly showed me her collection of potted plants.  Fely loves these plants.  She once shared that she battles a form of idolatry, because her first desire every morning is to go and tend to her beloved plants.  And here she stood offering one of them to me.  

Together with Ate Fely last May

Honored though I was, I knew that our family would soon be leaving the country for several months, and I really didn’t want one of Fely’s plants to go neglected in our absence.  “May I choose one when we return?” I asked, and, understanding, Fely agreed.

Fast forward a whole year. Yesterday morning a car pulls up in front of our house, and Ate Fely hops out. “I didn’t forget!” she calls out with a beaming smile.  She opens her trunk and lifts out a heavy pot, brimming with bougainvillea and philodendron for me. 

Fely's special gift

 Today as I stand admiring my new plants brightening the tiny courtyard outside our kitchen window, I wonder at Fely's memory for kindness.  I'm ashamed, knowing that my own is woefully weak.  Fely's thoughtfulness reminds me of how grateful I am for God's constancy; that though I am all too quick to forget Him, He never forgets His promises to those He loves.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, 

for He who promised is faithful.  

 Hebrews 10:23

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

-Robert Robinson, 1758

made to last

elise's lens

As promised, here are a few photos of Eden
through Elise's lens.

She found the greatest delight in the gorgeous tropical
(and some not-so-tropical)
flowers found in the gardens...

For someone working with a very basic point and shoot camera,
I think she captures some pretty amazing photos.

I include these next two because they were such unusual specimens:

The greenish-blue coloring of the one below
initially made me think, just for a moment,
that someone had been at work with a spray-paint can.
It seemed such an unnatural color for a flower!

Amy (always the discoverer of the family)
found this Macadamia nut on the ground.
Unlike the others around, it had a hole in it,
plugged with a rubbery cap it had grown.

We think we're so smart - but God is truly the original creator of so many amazing designs!

This mossy rope is part of the suspension bridge over a river valley at Eden.

And finally,
the cat in Eden's Cafeteria.

She had found her own Eden;
a gourmet and never-ending food source.

Thank you, Elise, for letting me share some of Eden through your eyes!

back to eden

The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food...

Genesis 2:8&9

Last week was spring break, and we had the delight of spending two days and nights at Eden,
enjoying the quiet and cool and rest.

We found ourselves reveling in the prolific natural beauty,
the displays of God's creative handiwork.

From the wildlife like these fuzzy dark-brown deer

and the flock of busy swallows nesting in impossibly tiny nests at our cabin,

to the amazing botany like this
pink banana heart
(and the bananas growing below it)

and the 'chenille' plant - soft enough to weave into a sweater.

Michael stopped to read about Hydroponics,
a topic he'll be studying in science next year.

We convinced friends of ours, Mark and Deb,
to accompany us for our two days and nights there,
and we were so blessed by their presence!

They brought recorders and played lovely classical trios with Amy,

and they taught us some new fun games:
Kings in the Corners (is that the right name, Deb?)



and
Fill or Bust, a card and dice game.
Any game where I can get 5,000 points in one turn is a winner!

Elise spent most of the two days and nights behind her camera
bent on capturing the beauty all around.

We'll post some of her best photos next time!

harvest

Remember that pineapple we found growing
in our yard last September?

After three months of sunshine and water,
it was finally ripe for harvest.
It was part of our New Year's morning breakfast!

The pineapple was delicious, sweet and juicy.
And Michael immediately pulled out the old plant
(since pineapple plants grow only one pineapple in their lifetime)
and in its place planted the new pineapple top.

coconut wine

Recently we had the opportunity to watch
the harvesting of coconut wine,
the freshly tapped sap from a coconut palm.


It was amazing to watch the barefoot tapper
lithely climb to the very top of the tall, notched trunk
armed with a knife and empty bamboo containers.


There he gathered the sap that had collected from the cut flower of the palm tree,
and fastened a new container to the flower stump to collect more.

The white liquid tends to be very sweet
and non-alcoholic before it is fermented.


Palm wine is often distilled to create a stronger drink,
called lambanog. It's pretty potent,
with a typical alcohol content of 80 to 90 proof after a single distillation,
and as high as 166 proof after the second distillation.

I think we'll stick with the coconut milk
(it's getting more tasty upon better acquaintance...)

Tropical Surprise

To our great surprise one day we found that the
pineapple plant in our yard was bearing a pineapple!

It's been fun to watch it grow from stage to stage.

We'll look forward to when it is ready to harvest!

Maybe I'll try to grow another pineapple plant from the top of this pineapple!
-Michael

**note: Our pineapple plant was in the garden when we arrived. It has long, narrow, fleshy leaves with sharp spines along the edges. The pineapple is a short-lived perennial plant which grows up to 4.9" tall. Pineapples produce just one fruit before dying. The Spanish introduced it into the Philippines, and S.E. Asia dominates world-production of pineapples, but there's nothing like watching one grow in your own yard!

look what grew

that's one big plant!

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 3:18

fairest of them all

The Fall Fair also had a display of stunningly beautiful flowers and foliage.

Mark took some great photos;

orchids of all colors,

various types of gourds and cones,

spiky rambutan on the vine,

exotic bird of paradise,

and less tropical varieties like these colorful chrysanthemums.

We brought a couple of plants home that Michael has planted in our yard as a reminder of our fun day at the fair!

"And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these."
Matthew 6:28 & 29