What a great day to visit the orchard! The weather was perfect! The beauty of God's creation was all around us, what more can a person ask for? My friend invited my 2 children and I to go with her and her 4 children to the apple orchard today. We enjoyed the small petting zoo, with geese that were a little irritated with people looking at them. They were hissing at the kids, and I am sure if they could have reached any of us they probably would have taken a nip at us too! There were 2 goats who would lock horns with each other over food. Chickens and turkeys that were well....just chickens and turkeys! Then we saw the donkeys, so quiet and tame....at least until you tried to feed them! Just like the rest of the critters they tried to push their way in front of the other one to get the food you offered. What love! Oh yes, I can't forget the sheep. They didn't do anything, they didn't even come to the fence, I guess they just weren't interested in the people that were passing by. They were probably thinking see one person you've seen them all!

We took a walk on the trail, of course the kids left us in the dust! So we decided they were old enough to walk alone, we turned around and went back to the beginning of the trail to see if they would notice we were missing! LOL I guess they did notice we were missing, but they didn't come looking for us, what independence!

We didn't pick our own apples, we cheated and bought them from the store there. Nothing better than a good apple picked by someone else! I think it was a great day, and hopefully the kids and my friend enjoyed themselves as much as I did. It's great to put all the cares of the world aside and just enjoy the day the Lord has given.

Now a note about the orchard. The orchard has several varieties of apple trees, but you will notice that there is never just one tree. One tree will not produce much fruit on it's own, if any. One kind of tree can be grafted to another to produce a different type of apple. Some are sweet, some are tart, some are definately sour! To get the greatest apples the orchard picks the best of the best and grafts and nurtures them. Of course we can't forget the bees, they must think they are in heaven when the buds on the trees open in the spring! The have a job to do, and they put their whole selves into their work. The result is a crop of wonderful fruit. Not only do they work hard in the spring, they also enjoy the benefits of fallen apples in the fall. Bees are always looking for something sweet, and the end result of their labor is the sweet juices of the apples they helped to produce. Hurray for the bees!

The body of Christ is like an orchard. We cannot produce great fruit alone. We need others to plant themselves next to us, so that the Lord can use our strengths and weaknesses to grow and mature each other. He grafts us to Himself, and that brings us life. We have something in us that the lost need, and that is the sweet fragrance of the Lord. Whether we are sweet or tart, the Lord can use us to bring Glory to Himself. We need to be willing to produce the best that we can, and plant ourselves next to others who are producing the best they can. Allow the Lord to graft you with like minded believers, and allow the Spirit of the Lord to stimulate good fruit in you. Others will taste and see that the Lord is good!     Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Psalm 34:8