It's All In A Day's Work

 "Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding."

Isaiah 40:28

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 On our way back from SD in August, we received a call from a pastor friend of ours saying that their church building was in desperate need of a roof.  We stopped by to look at it on our way home from MD in September, and after some research as to the best and most cost effective way to fix it, they set up a week for us to help them repair it.

Like the fashion?  Hope so....I believe it's permanent. : )

 The primer coat was the color of a school bus, so for a good part of the week, the church had a yellow/orange roof.

 The materials...quite a bit different than bundles of shingles!

 While the menfolk worked on the roof, most of the ladies congregated in the kitchen.

 Sara helped when they needed her.

Chicken and dumplings coming right up!

 Finally! a clear day!  Most of the week, the weather didn't want to cooperate, and rain isn't very conducive to roofing.  Especially when it involves things that require some time to dry.  As they were finishing the coat of "flashing", it first began to drizzle and then it turned to a steady rain.  What had been flashing on the roof turned into flashing in the drain ditches.  The Lord was teaching patience.

 This created a little more work.  The roof had to be swept and the residue blown off.  In the meantime...

 ...some had fun playing "Wall Ball".

 But Allison says, "I'll stay out of the way, thank you." : )

 Meals were a fun time of gathering and fellowship.

 Saturday, the last day of our stay, the weather finally cleared and the coat of flashing was applied.

 This time, there wasn't much threat of rain.

 The finish coat would go on after the flashing had dried, but because of prior commitments, we weren't able to stay and see the job completed.  The pastor and his father would be able to get the top coat sprayed on.  We left late that afternoon and got home well after 12:30 that night.  Thankfully it was daylight savings time and we had an "extra" hour to sleep.  We sure needed it!

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 Rainy Days....

 While we were there, we stayed in a comfy little cabin on the Neuse River.  The rainy days were a nuisance as far as the roof was concerned, but they did provide a good excuse for the fellas to go fishing.

  Not much biting...

 The "fashion" just won't wash off. : )

 They did catch a few small "croakers", but had to throw them back.

 Sweet potatoes! : )

We had spread them out so they could "dry" and air out.  They may not have dried, but they did get a washing. : )

  

"For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."

Isaiah 55:10-11 

Sweaty People, Suspicious Peanuts, and...Sweet Potatoes!

 "Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:  So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine."

Proverbs 3:9-10

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 This is what happens when the GPS isn't behaving itself as it should. : )  From Seagrove we were to go to a church in the eastern part of NC, but our land wasn't very far off course.  (And within walking distance of our land is a sweet potato field!)  The problem came when our GPS kept changing it's mind as to the best way to get from Seagrove to Bladen County...mid-course : )

 Happy travelers... : )

We had taken two vehicles on this trip so we would have enough room for tools.  Everyone got a little extra traveling room.  Also, we stayed more than 30 minutes away from the church that needed a roof repair, so the extra vehicle was an early morning blessing!

 The year before last, we noticed that the field near our land had been harvested and there were still sweet potatoes laying on the ground, so we asked a local if they knew who owned the field, etc.  We were told that all the potatoes in the field were free to those that wanted to pick them up.  We were sooooo excited, but to our disappointment, it had already frosted and the potatoes were worthless.  Last year we eyed the field, but soon found out they rotate crops, and the field had been planted in peanuts.  Needless to say, this year we were watching the sweet potato field very intently to make sure we were there after harvest and before the frost.  Our diiligence was rewarded.  The field had been harvested, and sweet potatoes were laying on the ground, free to anyone who cared to get their hands dirty.

 This is a common sight during the sweet potato harvest.  There normally is very little traffic, but the "school buses" were hot and heavy that day.

 There were SO MANY sweet potatoes!!!

 We could pull on a vine sticking out of the ground...

 

  ...and up would come...

 ...sweet potatoes!

It was amazing how many they would leave behind!

 There were some weird ones.

 This is definitely not work for the faint in heart.

 Look! Another weird one! (The sweet potato~not the person...)  : )

 Allison and her "peanuts"

Along the way, we found some unidentifiable (to us, at least) "volunteers" from other crops that had been planted in that field.

 So many sweet potatoes...

 Such a huge field...

 Truly, the Lord supplies above and beyond our every need!

 Just in case you didn't get a good look at it before...

 We ended up getting about 700 lbs. of sweet potatoes.  And the amazing thing was....we had hardly touched what was there!

 Ray loaded them into the back of our van

 and Keisha situated them just so.  They filled the whole back seat!  The smell of fresh sandy dirt was very strong...almost overpowering.

She ended up riding in the car. : ) : )

The Lord blessed us with such a bounteous harvest that we have been able to share with family and friends, to eat sweet potatoes to our hearts' content, and still have such abundance that we are now in the midst of canning.  Praise the Lord for such wonderful provision!