BLACK WALNUTS

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?       Matthew 6:26-27

Last week in our blog we mentioned the song "Dwelling In Beulah Land". A person who read our blog asked if Beulah Land was mentioned in the Bible. Paul's first response was "No". But Gail got out her Strong's Concordance and found that Beulah is mentioned once in the Bible. It is found in Isaiah 62:4 where it states, "No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be married." In Paul's Bible there is a footnote that indicates the word Beulah means married.

The last week has held lots of outdoor work, especially picking up and raking walnuts. Our property is lined with many black walnut trees, and in the fall we are blessed with bushels of walnuts that end up on our lawn. They are much larger than golf balls because they have a thick green husk that surrounds the nut. Black walnuts are notorious for staining your hands even when you are picking them up. This year we have an over abundance of walnuts and have raked and shoveled into a large trash container and dumped them in the woods. We have had to do this several times as the walnuts keep dropping, to the point we were advised to wear helmets while under the trees.

                    
                          A pile of black walnuts from Palpant's yard.

Every year we throw hundreds, if not thousands, of nuts into the woods and by spring there are only a few shells left. Throughout the winter the squirrels are mining for walnuts under the snow cover, and they find just about every last one. The way God has provided for these woodland creatures has been going on for centuries. Gail and Paul are just helping the squirrels out a little bit by collecting the nuts for them by putting them in one place.

As Christians we should not worry about what we are going to eat or wear or things of tomorrow, but trust that God is going to provide our necessary needs. Jesus felt that the problem of worrying was so important that he addressed it at His Sermon on The Mount.  There's a saying among Christians, "Why worry when you can pray?"

Blessings and Encouragement,

Paul, Gail, Patsy, and Penny