Chicken and Dumplings

Today was difficult for the Gentle Giant. He overworked himself the day before, not really doing anything, but not stopping to rest when he was tired. Last night, he couldn't breath, his heart rate was up and his blood oxygen level below 90. I almost took him to the hospital, but he talked me out of it. I did call Aaron, and he advised me to watch Martin and if he got worse, then go ahead and take him.
He had a terrible night. No sleep, tossing and turning and when he did sleep, he dreamed (as he so often does) of suffocation. Today, he was miserable, oh, and crabby too. He had no appetite, and just wanted to lay around in his recliner. I finally got him on his feet when Martin, (Bobbie Jo's Martin) called and told me that he had picked 5 gallons of dewberries! We went to Martin's job and got them and then to Walmart to get some jelly jars. (The making of the jelly will be for another blog).
I, myself, did not get to sleep until 2 am. My head is raging with all kinds of thoughts, not the least of what the future will bring. I try to calm down, count sheep, fix my pillows and so forth, but still I could not fall asleep. I finally did, and immediatly, or so it seemed, I was awaken to Little Joe's arrival. Having Martin crabby did not help, and my day was up and down. I reminded myself to be cheerful, and that helped some. Okay, finally to the point of this blog. We had the missionaries over for dinner. Nanamee also came, as well as Aunt Cheryl, Polly, the kids, Gail, Ricky, Joe and the other grandkids. I had a houseful. I love that! Dinner started out to be a small pot of chicken and dumplings, since that is Cheryl's favorite, and PaPa loves them too. I thought that maybe I could tempt his appetite, and so the chicken went into the pot. I added celery, onions and poultry seasoning. Covering the chicken with water, I set it to simmer. I had all afternoon, so I wasn't worried about the time. Then, I remembered it was Nanamee Wednsday. Polly made mention that she loved chicken and dumplings, and so did Gail. The pot is shrinking. I decided that I would make a very large pot of chicken and dumplings. Another chicken was fetched from the freezer, more celery and onions diced and the largest pot I own, (5 gallons) was taken from the cupboard. As both the chickens are simmering, I realized that Ricky needed dinner, and the girls, as well as Joe. I would have plenty, (I hoped). I then set to making the dumplings. Soon, a mountain of dough was being kneaded into egg dumplings, and then I had to roll them out. I cannot tell you how many dumplings I made, but there were LOTS! Finally, the 5 gallon pot was filled with the chicken, the dumplings and plenty of gravy. I realized that I had made too much. How could we eat 5 gallons of chicken and dumplings? Here's how. Jacob ate 5 servings, Kayleigh ate 3, cierra ate 2, Josiah from down the street ate 1 and Little Joe had a bowl of broth.(He gobbled that broth like it was his first meal!) The Missionaries had come to share some of the Gospel with Aunt Cheryl and Nanamee, and while they were talking, the children finished their dinner. Then, Polly (3 bowls) Gail, (2), Ricky (3)and Joe (3) had their dinner. Finally, Cheryl had 2 bowls, Nanamee had 1, and each of the missionaries had 2 bowls. Cierra came back and asked for another bowl, and Papa came home from picking up Jaybird from practice with Jaybird in tow. "Heard you made chicken and dumplings" said Jaybird and settled in at the table. Papa did eat a small serving and by then, the pot was almost empty. I scooped out some for Nanamee to have for lunch tomorrow, and send a good sized bowl home with Polly and her family. The dogs got the rest of the batch for dinner, (not much)and the 5 gallon pot is shining clean once again, free of it's dumpling delights.
How blessed I am. For one, I had enough chicken and dumplings to feed everyone as much as they wanted. Two, I realized what a loving family I have and how much fun it is to get together. 3, I was able to open my home to share the Gospel with my family, and had two precious, willing missionaries to do that for me. 4, how I loved seeing the children gobbling down chicken and dumplings, smiling, laughing, asking for more and knowing it was there for the asking. Finally, one of my greatest blessings, I had the Gentle Giant to share all of this with. Those two chickens sure went a long way, but since I was serving with a willing heart, that should not have surprised me!