Blessings and Sorrow

We finished harvest this week (all except a small field of double crop soybeans that won't be ready for another week).  We are not sure what we did wrong that we finished before some of our neighbors!  We are usually the last ones done in the neighborhood.  I guess getting rid of our sows, trading combines, and the reduced yields all played a part.  Corn yields ended up 15% below average, and soybeans were a little above average.  We feel blessed because we expected less as a result of the summer we had.

We had two funerals in church in the last week and a half.  The first, a Christian father who leaves a wife and 4 young boys, who lost a battle with cancer. The second, a dear old sister in the Lord who lived a long, fruitful life.  The first, a real sorrow and loss.  The second, a peaceful passing.  Both blessed our congregation.

We spent a blessed day of worship and fellowship today in T-town.  They hosted the "Illinois Potluck".  Every fall, a host church invites 5 couples (families) from every Apostolic Christian Church in the State of Illinois (19) to church for the day followed by a lunch call, supper, and singing.  We are one of the core couples, so we try to attend each year.  It's a slightly different group each year and we enjoy the food and fellowship.  We have made a lot of great friendships over the years.
And we got to spend time with our daughter and son-in-law and see our granddaughter!

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28