I Won't Worry 'Bout a Thing (And Other Harvest Lies)

Don't Worry 'Bout a Thing from Kim Fritzemeier on Vimeo.

Free like a bird in the big blue sky 
Not a cloud or a care for a million miles
I won't worry, worry 'bout a thing.

God loves me and He loved me first

He rescued me when I was in a lurch

And I won’t worry, worry about a thing.

To the left I’ll fly, fly, fly

To the right, I’ll glide, glide, glide.
No, and I won't worry, worry 'bout a thing!
Gonna scoop down low, low, low
Gonna soar up high, high, high.

And I won’t worry, worry about a thing.

 ***

I've chosen an unlikely theme song for harvest this year. Or maybe it chose me.

I have been singing snippets of the catchy, Calypso-style tune ever since I heard it at Kinley's VBS program June 10. This past weekend, two little harvest helpers sang with me and even added in the actions during a trip to the grocery store for more harvest supplies.

"No, Grandma! It's like this," Brooke insisted when I didn't comply and do the actions, too.

It's a great message. But, if I'm honest, I've had a little more trouble actually believing it.

I'm in good company.

 

On the Monday after a fun-filled week of VBS, when Kinley was hesitant about returning to day camp, I asked her, "Don't you remember that song? The one that talked about letting your worries fly, fly, fly away?" She just looked at me with sleepy eyes, but maybe she'll remember the next time she's anxious.

 

I'm great at giving advice about not worrying. But then we got home from Manhattan.

Randy went to the combine to do a test cut to see if we could get Wheat Harvest 2018 underway (way back on June 12). I thought I'd get a phone call from him, telling me it was a "go" or "no go." But I didn't expect the one I got.

"Well, we've had a disaster," he said.
My stomach clinched, and my heart went into my throat.

"A raccoon went through the radiator, the fan and the belts," he said, the frustration practically making the phone lines quiver.

"Can I do anything?" I asked
"No, I've been on the phone to Case, and I'm waiting for someone to call me back."

So what did I do? I worried. I asked God, "Why?" And I worried some more.

Maybe I should have had a week of VBS ... especially if the theme was Shipwrecked: Rescued by Jesus.

Though we're in landlocked Kansas, I needed my own sea rescue ... in a sea of amber waves of grain without a way to harvest it.

Thankfully, Case had all the parts. They spent all day on Wednesday, June 13, fixing the combine. It was a humid day, and we would have had to start late and quit early if we'd gotten to cut at all, making my farmer a little more relaxed than he'd have been otherwise.

We got a call about 7 o'clock that evening, saying that by the time we got to Hutchinson, the combine would be ready to go.

I would like to say I quit worrying then. I know the Bible says not to worry. However, knowing it and practicing it are two different things. There had already been two fatality accidents on Kansas highways that day. What if someone wasn't paying attention to the flashing lights on our slow-moving vehicle and crashed into Randy?

What if? What if? What if? My mind could come up with plenty of disaster scenarios.

After a few miles on busy U.S Highway 50 into the setting sun, Randy turned off onto country roads. Two hours later, he called me to pick him up at the field. He was home. None of the "shipwreck" imaginings actually happened. I said a "thank You" prayer and may have hummed that VBS song under my breath yet again.

We started cutting wheat on Flag Day June 14. Or so we thought.

It took awhile for Randy to get the combine adjusted. He was rolling ... and then, there was another breakdown ... and another call to Case.

Jill and Eric and the girls had planned to come out for a harvest weekend. We warned them that things were not in full swing, but they decided to come anyway. Though the rides had more stops and starts than a trip down a traffic-light-littered Main Street, they did a little riding.

And then we shared our bad luck with them. Randy has been excited to take the girls to a neighbor's enchanted forest he's constructed in a shelterbelt. Randy even started his own mini version across the road from our house (more on that later). However, the early Saturday morning walk had an unexpected encounter with all kinds of wildlife. A deer dashing and crashing through the shelterbelt sent Kinley running into her mom's arms.

And then, when we were almost to the end of the path, we made our acquaintance with a skunk. Brooke got the worst of it, but Kinley and I also had to take our turns ridding our bodies of the stink. Jill had a whiff of it, too, where she'd picked up Brooke to carry her after the "incident."

For the record, tomato juice is not the best skunk deodorizer. Hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and Dawn dishwashing soap are our recommendation. Thankfully, most of the odor was below the knees. After repeated scrubbings (and about an hour and a half later), we were deemed odor-free.

Since I did not get a photo of our wildlife adventures, Kinley drew a picture of our enchanted forest encounter. (Click on the photo to make it bigger and see the detail.) I hope we are not forever known as the smelly grandparents.

It literally took until the evening of June 16 to get the combine running correctly. Both Randy and I are dreading the bill from Case. The repair guy has practically become part of the family, he was out at our farm so often in the past week.

The other Randy, the Case repair guy, joined us for a harvest picnic Saturday evening. (He was offered meals at other times, too, but that was the first time he accepted the invitation.)

I think the girls enjoyed the picnic more than the guys, who were at peak frustration by that time.

Randy got the perfect Father's Day gift on Sunday, June 17. It was literally our first full day of cutting since our first attempt on Tuesday.

Bottom photos are by Kinley and Brooke

He had some good helpers before they left to drive back home. (And to stop on the way home for new tennis shoes for Brooke, whose shoes had a pungent reminder of her trip to the farm.)

The girls were the perfect antidote to a frustrated farmer.

Before the ill-fated walk in the "Enchanted" forest.

They love the kitties just as much as Grandpa does.

 

They got to encounter less smelly wildlife in our hired man's vegetable garden on Sunday before church. Bunnies are definitely better than skunks!

They soared on the backyard swing, where Brooke - our little daredevil - was delighted with "under doggies" and "touching the sky."

I really have that had the "don't worry" song as an "earworm" for a week now. And I think it was probably a good thing - even when I don't always successfully follow its message. Maybe I should get the CD. The theme song says:

Through every storm of life

I know You’re by my side.

So I am holding on to Your promises

You are the God who holds

My future, all my dreams

So I am holding on

You’ll never let go of me.

 We hope it's smoother sailing this week!

God Sightings

Maybe we expect a burning bush. Maybe we are waiting for manna to drop from heaven. Maybe we are anticipating a thunderous crash from the clouds and an unmistakable deep voice giving us a definitive answer to our every question. Surely God would be "sighted" in those things, right?

But in all the searching and all the angst, maybe we are missing the answers all around us. That's what Vacation Bible School has been about this week. We have been using Group Publishing Company's "Egypt: Joseph's Journey from Prison to Palace."

I've been the snack lady. But I've overheard snippets of conversations from the students and their leaders as they have searched for "God Sightings" this week.

It's easy to read incredible, true stories in the Bible and quietly wonder why God doesn't do those things today. Joseph's special gift of interpreting dreams literally changed his life and freed him from prison chains. Joseph, as an instrument of God, saved the Egyptian people from famine. He forgave his brothers even after they attempted to kill him. (And yet we can't seem to forgive the person who slighted us in some way or who cut in front of us at the stop sign. What does that say about us?)

The Bible is full of miracles. But we seem to forget to look for miracles all around us today. During VBS, the students were encouraged to look for "God Sightings" in their everyday lives. They were to "look for the evidence of God in things like a sunset, a rainstorm, a laugh, a kind word, and a tasty snack."

That's where I came in - the tasty snack part and, hopefully, a kind word or two. It's not an unusual role for me, but the circumstances were unique this year. As a small membership church in the Kansas West Conference of the United Methodist Church, a team from Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina came to Stafford to help us with VBS. There were Carl and Sandra, the group leaders and teachers. Karl with a "K" has used his beautiful voice to lead the music. Janea has used her physical fitness training as recreation leader. Chelsea's art background has guided the craft area. Coby has portrayed Joseph this week.


They ably demonstrated the lesson from Day 2: "In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well." Romans 12:6

I didn't see the actual VBS materials, so I was left to come up with snacks I hoped would complement the lessons. In the advance materials, the KWU team suggested things like animal crackers and goldfish crackers. Those snacks are just fine, and I could have done that with a lot less time, effort and money. I know they were trying to make the snack time quick and easy, which I can appreciate.

But I was also struck by a story my sister told earlier this month. She was helping with VBS at her church and noticed a little boy taking a photo of his snack. When she asked him about it, he said that his mom seemed really interested in what he was having for snacks every day, so he was going to show her.

I laughed out loud when I heard that (and the pressure was on!). It reminded me of our Sunday after-church dinners when we would quiz our kids about what they had learned in Sunday School that day.

"We learned about God and Jesus," was the standard reply, even as they got older and were saying it with a grin just to perturb their mother.

But I do hope there were a few moms out there asking about the VBS snacks. It's not because I want a lot of praise and kudos for putting snacks on the table. But I hope the kids were listening as they discovered their homemade pretzels looked like a heart to represent God's love for us. And I hope they heard me say that the monks in Germany shaped pretzels in that way to remind young children to pray.

Teddy Grahams were stand-ins for ancient Egyptians in a couple of different snacks.

Randy helped me shape Scotchoroo no-bakes into pyramids. Then I put graham cracker "sand" underneath and had Teddy Grahams stand guard. (I would have used chocolate ones for more contrast, but my grocery store didn't have them.)


I made "Sand Cups" instead of dirt cups, as we talked about the dry desert lands and the famine that came to the Egyptian people.

I hope the VBS kids had a God Sighting as their families came together for a Wednesday night meal of sloppy joes, baked beans, cookies and fixings. I hope their families had God Sightings as they watched their children sing songs and enthusiastically do the actions.


I personally have seen God Sightings all around. I saw it in the laughter of VBS students ...




... and helpers.

I had a sighting and heard it, too, as they sang, "Blessed Be the Name of the Lord."

I saw Him when church congregation members opened their homes to house the Kansas Wesleyan team. The evidence of God's miracles was abounding as other congregation members fed the team lunch and supper. I saw it when the congregation opened their wallets to help with VBS expenses.

I experienced the love of Christ as my husband helped me make pyramids on a rainy day (and maybe I helped him forget about the rain-soaked wheat fields for just a little bit, so maybe it was a God Sighting in both directions.)

(Randy was a much better pyramid builder than me!)

And then it happened again as Randy and other friends helped me serve the Wednesday night supper.

But it's not just about looking for things that God has done or made for us. It's also about sharing God's love and being a God Sighting for someone else.

I've been doing Vacation Bible School a lot of years. I hope I never forget that's what it is all about. I pray these kids have heard the message this week. If they don't remember anything else, I hope they will remember to look for God in others and to demonstrate God's love to others.

And I also pray they will hear and then truly know the message from one of their daily Bible verses, the day they were to learn that "God gives us hope."

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

Amen.