O, Ye of Little Faith

My pole beans weren't producing, at least I thought they weren't.  We looked for beans,  I saw a few blossoms, and a few baby beans -- a couple of which fell off when we touched them.  So we were afraid to touch them.  Honestly, I thought they probably weren't getting enough light, or something else was wrong.

Today, I went out to water, and the tops of the beans were totally entwined in the top of the fence, threading their way in and out of the yard.  As I tugged a bit, I found beans!  Whoot!  And more beans.  Finally, I had to put them in my pocket, I was finding so many.

But I had to look for them. 

Not bad for a first picking.  And I'm so grateful, the bush beans are fading fast.


Kind of like life: God promises things, they're not obvious, we have to search for them, and lo, and behold, He produces in abundance.

Our tomatoes are the same way.  I picked this basket-full yesterday.

And the bushes, although not very pretty, are full of red or almost red fruit.

Our Father lavishes abundant love on us.

Apples

Apple blossoms from earlier this "spring".  They smell wonderful, too.

Taken this morning:  fruit is set, and even a few with some color.

To keep this in perspective, they are still walnut sized, just perfect little apples.  (and if you know what disease is attacking the leaves, let me know.  I'll be taking a sample to the nursery soon.)

Here in California, apples blossom in the late winter.  The fruits were set pretty much mid-March, and we will start harvesting in June.  They are mostly gone mid-July, although there are still a few into August.

I think it's really cool that they start out being perfectly shaped apples, they just need to mature into their full potential: an illustration of all life.