Unexpected Blessing!

Yesterday we had an unexpected blessing. 

Kenn and his oldest two children, our friends Justin Stanton and Steve, and Jon and Ryan McVey were getting a load of firewood for our dear friends the Frenches for their winter supply. 

The chain saw they had along had a dull chain and things were going slowly, so some of the guys ended up having to come to our place to pick up chain saws, gas, oil, another axe and splitting maul.

We ladies threw a few things together for a quick lunch for them--leftover borsch, rye rolls, toasted cheese sandwiches and cookies I'd just brought back from the store.

(I hardly ever buy cookies, but I couldn't resist these cranberry raisin oatmeal cookies marked down yesterday.) 

Ryan stayed to play with Danny outside while the guys added Sam to their crew and hurried back to Black Forest.

Kenn and children had arrived there and cut a bunch of trees down already

at the property of someone who was clearing out all these trees burned in the terrible fire two years ago. 

This spot is just about a tenth of a mile from where that awful forest fire started.

Below Sam is sawing the logs into small chunks.

Jonathan and the rest of our family stayed behind a while to clean up the kitchen, do the dishes, 

and finish wrapping and freezing the goat meat we had been freezing that morning.

 

We had to put a problem goat into the freezer, but the meat looked wonderful.

 Then we all drove to Black Forest to help, too.

It was so refreshing to be out in the cold, fresh air, working together to help a need.

The guys kept teasing one another if they missed the log while splitting, or couldn't get it split the first time.

But in a very few hours, we had the whole dump trailer full of sawed and split wood all ready for Frenches to stuff into their little wood heater this winter. 

I had sat for a while in the van helping Crystal over the phone with getting started on a literary analysis of a short story for English Comp I. 

Then I had joined the girls and children picking up the split wood and stacking it in the trailer.

It was a welcome break from being cooped up in the house all week with one sick child after another--

and the oven suddenly popping, smoking and quitting on us, leaving Jonathan scratching his head.

How good of the Lord to provide through our neighbor who had just been clearing about 300 sets of appliances from apartment complexes that a new owner was refurbishing. 

Whole sets of used appliances were being sold for $300 a set. 

Jonathan was able to get a glass top stove for us for just $100 that very next day. 

And Sam helped to get it connected and working.

I encourage Jonathan to not just do things himself of this sort, but to teach the boys to do everything.

"You just tell them what to do, but make them do it," I say to him. 

"We want our boys to grow up knowing how to do as many things as possible, and they won't learn unless someone teaches them."

That way they will be useful, they can take care of their own wives and families without always asking someone else to do it, and they will have something to do besides watch videos and play X-boxes, computer games, and all the latest time-wasters.

And so in the middle of a busy, snowy, and sickness-filled week, we were blessed to lay aside part of an afternoon to get out in the fresh air and do something to lift someone else's load.

The Frenches are so deserving.
He had this stroke, and it's a blessing to bless them.
Steve was able to dump the trailer in their driveway without their knowing it!

 Hopefully some youngsters can get together to help pile it all for them.