Well, it sure took me a long time to get back on here, again. Of course we had plowing and planting. It's just not our farm we do. If a neighbor needs a hand, we go help them and there seemed to be several of them this year that needed it.
Now we are praying that the Lord will provide us with some rain. So far crops are growing, but not as fast as previous years and some not as well. We are not receiving as many vegetables per plant this year as we have in previous years We did have some rain last night and according to the weather suppose to rain the next couple of days. We hope that happens.
Also, in addition to farming, I do siding on houses. This year, it seems several people want their house done this year, which is good, except Bishop Eli, Michael and myself can't get them as fast as people want them. I had to hire another crew - which means I had to train them. Training them takes time and even after that they need supervision for a while. Believe me, we are glad for the work, I'm not complaining (Anna says it sounds like it), it's just everything is coming at once. It seems everyone wants their siding on - yesterday.
Many times when putting siding on a house, we see other things that have to be repaired on the house. We even had to put new roof on a couple of houses. People see the house looks so nice with the siding on and their roof looks so bad - they want and should replace it. Of course, we are glad to do the work, but it takes extra time.
Anna says for me to stop complaining. The Lord has provided us with this work and we are to do it. After we pay everyone, for all the supplies, etc. - the rest is ours. We put some away for the winter. Also, we give a percentage to the church for needs that might come up for people.
I don't know if I told you about collection in our church. Twice a year, there is a leather bag by the door. As we leave, we can put a plain envelope in the bag with our donation in it. We don't put our names or anything on it. That is our donation, just between us and the Lord. So no one knows how much anyone give. If between these two donations, Bishop Eli needs more money for someone's medical bills, has to replace a barn or house after a fire, etc., he either lets us know a week ahead and we make a donation at the next service. If it is a now emergency and can't wait until service, some of the church board goes from home to home asking for donations. Since Eli has been Bishop, we haven't had a door to door collection.
Oh, I forgot the money we put in the collection is decided between Anna and myself. No one tells us how much to donate. Seeing that the money is in a plain envelope when it goes into the collection, no one knows how much anyone put in. If someone can not afford to put anything in, that is fine, too. Somehow and I don't know he does it, but if someone doesn't put in the collection, Bishop Eli goes to their home - not to make them donate- but to see if they need financial help.
Bishop Eli says the problem is he can't help people, if we don't know about it. It is hard for some people to ask.. Everyone in our church group has donated at one time or another. In fact, they are very generous. If someone that needs help and we can handle it out of pocket, we just do it. A couple of needs I have seen some work that needed to be done on a house we were working and saw something that should be fixed. If I know the people can't afford it and I can, I sometimes just fix it an don't charge for it. I am not saying it with pride, it's just what we do. Others of our church do the same thing.
Well I have gone a bit about money, butI just wanted you to know what we do.
Trust God's Wisdom,
Elmer
