I have about 25 pds. of fresh green beans in my kitchen. They are, I think, the last of the seasons. It is always a bitter sweet end when the last of a crop comes in. You are so glad, because the abundance of it has made you a little sick of it, and it's a little sad because it's to be no more till next year.
I have made Garlic Green Beans, Ginger Soy Green Beans, Italian Green Bean Soup, Chicken Potato Soup with Green Beans, and just plain. raw. crunchy, fresh from the garden green beans ( I tell my kids they are green french fries..."cool!")
Any green been recipies out there? I'm sure I can't be the only one reaping in the harvest right now. My neighbor makes a Green Bean Pie...I should get the recipie, that sounds very good!
I will be blanching and freezing most of what I have left here in my kitchen. There is no way we will be able to eat all of these before they go bad. Plus, there aren't really any neighbors or church folks to give them to, most are all already burned out on the things (it's always a good season when it comes to green beans!)
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Saturday, September 22, 2007
The Love of Money
I was thinking about the Bible story of the man who had to build bigger barns so that he could have a place to hold all of his stuff.
Where we live, like anywhere else there are the "good" neighborhoods, where people seem to keep their homes clean and neat for the most part, and there are the "bad" neighborhoods, where homes are dirty with unkept lawns, etc. Anyways, upon observing, I noticed that many of the homes in the "bad" neighborhoods were bursting at the seams with stuff! In fact, the whole reason the homes appear so dirty is because they all have piles of junk, toys and cars all over the place.
This caught me by surprise, as I really got to thinking because it seems like in the "bad" neighborhood where most of the people are considered poor, their homes are also just flooded with things!
It gets me thinking about stewardship, and about how we are to be wise with our money (God's money). It seems like so much of the finances He provides us with is wasted away.
I was imagining the world during the chaos of the end times, and how it will mostly be made up of graveyards for the dead, and dumps, heaps of trash pilled about from all of our stuff. I mean seriously, they just opened up a new IKEA here in Oregon, and I was totally overwhelmed by all of the stuff they have there. It's am amazing store, that I really want to go back to for a few things. However, as I was staring at all this stuff, this thought hit me, that in five, ten, however many years from now, most of what I see here, will be pilled up in a big garbage heap...nothing more than junk!
Anyways, we're as guilty as anybody at having too much stuff, and I hate it. On one hand, I want to just burn it all, on the other hand, I just never know when I might need something. I just never want to become like the man in the story who has to build larger barns to hold all of his possessions. I want to be a good steward of all that God has given me.
I think the love of money can come to the rich and the poor. I knew a man who used to say that he thought the reason God never gave him a lot of money was probably because God knew he wouldn't be able to handle it! I can relate with that, and think that same thing sometimes.
Money is such an idle to most of us. The Bible says that we can't take it with us when we go. I think women are the worst, always worrying about security. Worrying if we'll be taken care of, worrying about our husbands dying and leaving us with, "nothing."
It makes me wonder, where does our security lie? Of course in Christ we say. Well, everyone would probably agree that money makes things easier, makes life more enjoyable. This is true, but where has that gotten us in America? Our ease, has turned into complacency, and will be our biggest weakness. Look at the fall of the Roman Empire...they were a monetarily prosperous nation (just like us). With money, we don't need faith or God. We don't need anything. Have you ever tried witnessing to someone who doesn't think they need anything?! It's impossible.
So of course, money isn't the problem here, it's man's heart. We hold money in such high esteem, higher than most everything else. My mom worries about me, because she doesn't think we have enough money! Well, I worry about her because though she has money, she doesn't know Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior.
What's important to us, why do our hearts burn for more money, more stuff, bigger stuff..It's never enough. Thats the folly of desiring and obtaining money - it's empty in it's final reward. It's pleasurable for a season, but for certain will require more, and more until we are building bigger barns to hold it all.
Where we live, like anywhere else there are the "good" neighborhoods, where people seem to keep their homes clean and neat for the most part, and there are the "bad" neighborhoods, where homes are dirty with unkept lawns, etc. Anyways, upon observing, I noticed that many of the homes in the "bad" neighborhoods were bursting at the seams with stuff! In fact, the whole reason the homes appear so dirty is because they all have piles of junk, toys and cars all over the place.
This caught me by surprise, as I really got to thinking because it seems like in the "bad" neighborhood where most of the people are considered poor, their homes are also just flooded with things!
It gets me thinking about stewardship, and about how we are to be wise with our money (God's money). It seems like so much of the finances He provides us with is wasted away.
I was imagining the world during the chaos of the end times, and how it will mostly be made up of graveyards for the dead, and dumps, heaps of trash pilled about from all of our stuff. I mean seriously, they just opened up a new IKEA here in Oregon, and I was totally overwhelmed by all of the stuff they have there. It's am amazing store, that I really want to go back to for a few things. However, as I was staring at all this stuff, this thought hit me, that in five, ten, however many years from now, most of what I see here, will be pilled up in a big garbage heap...nothing more than junk!
Anyways, we're as guilty as anybody at having too much stuff, and I hate it. On one hand, I want to just burn it all, on the other hand, I just never know when I might need something. I just never want to become like the man in the story who has to build larger barns to hold all of his possessions. I want to be a good steward of all that God has given me.
I think the love of money can come to the rich and the poor. I knew a man who used to say that he thought the reason God never gave him a lot of money was probably because God knew he wouldn't be able to handle it! I can relate with that, and think that same thing sometimes.
Money is such an idle to most of us. The Bible says that we can't take it with us when we go. I think women are the worst, always worrying about security. Worrying if we'll be taken care of, worrying about our husbands dying and leaving us with, "nothing."
It makes me wonder, where does our security lie? Of course in Christ we say. Well, everyone would probably agree that money makes things easier, makes life more enjoyable. This is true, but where has that gotten us in America? Our ease, has turned into complacency, and will be our biggest weakness. Look at the fall of the Roman Empire...they were a monetarily prosperous nation (just like us). With money, we don't need faith or God. We don't need anything. Have you ever tried witnessing to someone who doesn't think they need anything?! It's impossible.
So of course, money isn't the problem here, it's man's heart. We hold money in such high esteem, higher than most everything else. My mom worries about me, because she doesn't think we have enough money! Well, I worry about her because though she has money, she doesn't know Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior.
What's important to us, why do our hearts burn for more money, more stuff, bigger stuff..It's never enough. Thats the folly of desiring and obtaining money - it's empty in it's final reward. It's pleasurable for a season, but for certain will require more, and more until we are building bigger barns to hold it all.
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