My daughter, Vanessa, came home last night with some apples. Actually, Vanessa came home with a whole lot of apples last night. Her crew were creating boxes to send to our American troops and they sent the leftovers home with every one.
When I got up this morning I realized that we needed to do something with them otherwise they would spoil. We eat apples here and there, but not that many, and we're leaving for St. Louis tomorrow. So what to do.
Looking at them more closely, I realized they were not store bought. These apples were a mixture of varieties, sizes, shapes and quality. I started examining them and found scars, bruised spots and very odd shapes. They certainly are not what I buy in the store. You know what I'm talking about. You go down the fruit isle in the store and your mouth waters because they are perfectly shaped and have a consistent, beautiful, shiny red very appealing skin. Not these. These looked like they'd lived and could tell us some stories. LOL
I decided that I could make some pies. I had some leftover pie crusts from a holiday and got excited thinking who I could bless today with some apple pie. You might wonder why I don't just fix if for my family. Guess what? They don't like pie. :-)
So I start washing the apples. I tossed out some bruised ones and there were a couple I threw out because they just had some icky looking scars. As I worked through the pile I started thinking about those I threw away. I'm going to be peeling them. There's bound to be a good part of that apple that's usable. I could make more than one pie if I get those back out and cut off those areas that were not usable.
So I grab those out of the trash. I washed them again and worked on them to get to the usable parts. Some of the apples that looked good on the outside, when I halved them, were actually very scarred on the inside around the core. I didn't see that from the outside. Some apples had very large core areas with less fruit. Some had very small cores and a lot of fruit.
By the time I had them peeled, cored, and sliced I had way more apple than I can use in two pies. So I decide to make some apple crisp too. Then I remembered that Pastor Anthony was coming over to spend some time with Ryan today. So I made a couple apple crisp desserts. I can't believe how many desserts I was able to make with a bag of apples. I ended up with 2 apple pies and 3 apple crisp desserts.
I put the apple crisp in the oven first and they started cooking and I began to clean up the area. I'm not Sally Homemaker so I did throw all the cores out and all the peelings. I know, I have a friend who's reading this and can't believe I wasted all those peelings .......... I hear her loud and clear..there's a use for all apple parts. You're wasting good usable parts.
Wouldn't you know it? God started talking to me. As the smell of cinnamon and apples begins to fill the house, I start hearing God. We're just like those apples.
There are so many different types of people. People come in all different shapes and sizes. Some are so beautiful on the outside. We see them and think they're really going to do great things for God. They have it so together that very shortly they're going to be so useful in the Kingdom. We see others and their scars and bruises are very apparent from the outside. We know God can use them but we also know it's going to take a good long time before they're productive. Some we look at and we throw them away immediately. We don't see anything good in saving that one and we throw them out before spending much time looking.
But God does it different. He starts by washing us off gently. Then He starts working on those areas that are not very appealing. He smooths out the scars and heals the bruised areas. And by the time He's finished, we are actually quite appealing. He too finds pretty ones that have very little fruit on the inside, but he uses what there is. And He also finds the not so pretty ones that inside are just full of precious fruit.
Best of all, God's not surprised at the harvest. He's not surprised that so little becomes so much when He completes the process of preparation. And He has so many things that people of all shapes, sizes and tastes can do that it's impossible not to be fruitful if you want to be.
God, the Master Creator and Reconstructor, with love changes lives. He's the only one that can love me when I'm not so pretty or my bruised ego or attitude needs some adjustments. He's the only one that can take what I am and who I am and change me to be what He sees in me. He loves us so much and He knows just how much peeling, coring and slicing we need in order to bring enjoyment to those around us.
You see, I found love in the apples today!
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