Cobbler on the Porch | Bittersweet Farm Journal | July 16, 2023

Cobbler on the Porch

At the risk of leaving you with the false impression that my life is perfect I need to give you a report on today. It’s the Lord’s Day and the sky was blue all day out on Bittersweet Farm and all over the whole Mitten State today.

Yesterday was the exact beginning of the last half of summer. After a good day at church and a satisfying lunch with Lois and Hope (Hope joins us when Tim has to work. He is a nurse) I came home and enjoyed a nice, long uninterrupted nap.

When I woke up I discovered that the temperatures had dropped and I spent some time out on the porch and playing my guitar and harmonica while evening settled in.

While I was there Lois came out and said, “You want to eat out there or come inside?”

Music to my ears. “Let’s eat out there,” I said.

She came out with big bowls of fresh blackberry cobbler, with globs of vanilla ice cream melting over it. (Thank you Diane Layman for picking and cleaning them and bringing them to church for us). I am unashamed to admit I had a second bowl. Hey it was supper and I skipped the donuts in Sunday School today.

I didn’t make any of this up. It was not a dream. This really happened today. I’m just reporting the bare facts.

In the evening I took a slow roll on my bike “Happy,” and then settled into my desk in the corner of the upstairs by the open window to enjoy the night air and write to you.

Bad things sometimes happen to me and bad things happen all around me. Sometimes my heart is heavy and things grieve me. There is brokenness around me, against me and within me, but today was a sweet day and I had hot blackberry cobbler on the porch on a quiet, cool Michigan summer Sunday evening. I wanted to tell somebody.

Paul told the Romans, “Rejoice with those who rejoice…”

I hope you had a beautiful day and you feel loved. I hope you enjoyed good weather, good worship, good music, good food, and good friends today, but if you didn’t and there was sadness or anxiety or hardship or shame or guilt or grief or remorse or fear, or pain or brokenness, remember the God who created sunshine, puppies and black raspberries and inspired people to create bicycles and hot air balloons and bluegrass music is alive and well and still he rewards those who diligently seek him. There will be a day here on earth when heaven will come down and he will make everything new and that should put joy in your heart even when you don’t have any blackberry cobbler out on the porch.

Bittersweet Farm
July 16, 2023