Hello! I want to thank you all so very much for stopping by to see our life in writing. Our life here ‘Round the Apple Tree is fundamentally quite simple. We serve in our vocations, the ones that Christ has given us. Wife or mother, daughter or sister, working professional or homemaker. All are certainly vocations to which the Lord has called us .
Our vocations and daily tasks in those vocations may not always seem picture worthy or perfect content for a blog post, but they are ever-present reminders of Christ’s work in us. Not our work, but Christ’s work of forgiveness and grace for us and our neighbor. Whether our neighbor be a husband, children, coworker, customer, or friend, Christ’s gifts are all the same. We are called specifically in those vocations to love. I admire this quote by Gustaf Wingren in his 1535 Commentary on Galatians about Christian life:
There is nothing more delightful and lovable on earth than one’s neighbor. Love does not think about doing works, it finds joy in people; and when something good is done for others, that does not appear to love as works but simply as gifts which flow naturally from love. Love never does something because it has to. It is permitted to act. And earth with its trees and grass is the site of man’s vocation. He who has the Holy Spirit knows it by the fact, among others, that in faith and gladness he fulfills his vocation. He rejoices in his labor. -Gustaf Wingren: 1535 Commentary on Galatians
Christ’s work in us certainly calls us to a multitude of different vocations. For me, I am currently called to my vocation as wife and apple farmer. In this vocation, I joyfully go about my work to support my husband and show Christ-like love to customers of our orchard. I’m sure your vocation is different, and calls you to serve different neighbors.
I look forward to having you join me and follow along as I share about all the joys of living my vocation ‘Round the Apple Tree.
In joy,
Hannah
The Christian’s faith and life are inextricably bound up with Christ. We live in Him through faith. He lives in us through love. As we are called outside of ourselves, we begin to lose our old identity and take on a new one, marked by the suffering Servant — a “cross-marked identity.” -Jacob A. O. Preus III LCMS Mercy Essay — The Vocation of Every Christian
Hello, hope you 2 are doing well. Susan and I miss you but are proud of what you have become. Merry Christmas