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!