Enjoying Life And Apple Pie
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with an old hymn that I used to sing with my sister JayKay on the farm:
There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul.
Then it goes:
“Sometimes I feel discouraged, and I think my work’s in vain, but then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again. There’s a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole. There’s a balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul.”
My sister and I would sit on the back porch of our farmhouse in Maryland, harmonizing on this hymn and others till late in the evening. And when I sing this old hymn, a thousand memories carry me away, and I just have to hear JayKay’s voice.
I called my family last night back in Maryland and, it sounded so good to catch up with my sister and how things are going with the goats and the chickens and the dogs and the horses. Summer’s over and late fall brings its own season of chores. In November, the early winter winds blow hard across our farm pastures, and it will mean Jay will be taking in her potted plants, tilling and turning the soil in her barren garden, preparing the farmhouse for winter. She’ll change out summer curtains for winter ones, bring out warm afghans for the sofa; she’ll caulk windows, stack wood along the chimney, and her husband Rob will wrap the pipe coming up from the spring house. Looking back, many years ago when I lived with her on the farm, my sister worked hard, but at day’s end, sitting by a crackling fire when the cold wind would start blowing, we were ready for winter.
A new season would also bring out JayKay’s old recipes. My sister was a great cook and an even better baker. Mouth-watering aromas would drift in from her kitchen, like the sweet scent of an apple pie baking in her oven. Everybody loved my sister’s buttery apple pie, piled high with mounds of fresh apples, and layered with butter, and topped with her delicious, flakey crust. Oh, my goodness, I recall that hot pie sitting on the kitchen rack to cool, and I’m getting hungry right now, even now as I think about it. And if I’m making you hungry, too, I have posted her recipe today on joniradio.org. Just visit joniradio.org and ask for JayKay’s farm-fresh apple pie recipe.
Yep, this time of year makes me long for life back on the farm. We were the picture of Psalm 133, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” Life with my sister was good and pleasant, because we lived together in unity, and it was pleasant because she made many sacrifices to make it so. So, JayKay, if you’re listening, my prayer for you is from Genesis 31, may, “The Lord watch between you and me, when we are out of one another’s sight.” I miss your baking, sis, but thankfully I’ve got your recipe. And friend listening, you can have it, too; get your copy at joniradio.org; try making up my sister’s apple pie, and when you do, you gotta slice thick pieces, pass around those warm slices, pile on lots of vanilla ice cream, crack open the Bible, read a couple of encouraging Psalms, and maybe finish off, as you part company with your friends or family that night, “May the Lord watch between you and me, while we’re out of each other’s sight.” God bless you today and thanks for listening to Joni and Friends.