If I had my blood drawn right now…I’m thinking that it may be a darker red than usual. The reason? It’s strawberry season! I love strawberries and the last couple of weeks I have ingested many. I have eaten them plain…put them in fruit salads…made strawberry shortcake…and of course, I had to make fresh strawberry pies.
The reason I tend to gorge myself on this particular fruit at this time of year, is because that’s when they are ready to be picked in our garden. Since I am highly allergic to strawberries in the grocery store that have chemicals on them, I can hardly wait each spring to start eating ours since they are completely organic. It is so nice to be able to eat them on a daily basis, without the concern of having a bad reaction.
This past Saturday I was cleaning strawberries to freeze for this coming year, and to use to make another strawberry pie for Father’s Day. As I worked, I started thinking about everything that had to be previously done so that I could enjoy this fruit in so many different ways.
First of all, my husband Dan had to build raised garden beds and fill them with soil. We then had to purchase strawberry plant roots (which someone else had grown so we could buy them), and then those roots needed to be put in the ground. They then had to be watered when necessary and allowed to grow…sending their runners throughout the raised bed. Weeds needed to be pulled to make sure they didn’t choke out the plants.
It’s pretty exciting around here when we see the first blossoms of the season, because we know that the fruit will then follow. The raised bed is checked often as the fruit appears and once they have ripened, we need to get them picked. They are then brought in to de-stem and wash so they can be used in salads, desserts, etc.
Gee, wasn’t that riveting? OK, so it may not be real exciting for you…but it is for me because I was involved in those details and I know how far we have come in the process. And, I also have seen and experienced the rewards for our labor as we have tended to our garden. But if I took a guess, I’m thinking that the last time a piece of pie was placed in front of you in a restaurant, you probably didn’t give a lot of thought to what transpired in the prior months so you could have that dessert. At least I’m sure I didn’t.
Isn’t it interesting that we are all intelligent enough to realize that fruit has a history, but we often neglect to realize the people we come in contact with do too? We meet someone, and we immediately evaluate them on our “scale”, passing judgement without ever taking the time to hear their story. We have no idea what all has transpired in their life and for all we know…they may be lightyears ahead in their Christian growth compared to where they began. But, unfortunately, we sometimes make a rash assessment and we miss out on coming alongside them as they tend to their “garden” in life.
Do you want to experience great rewards with a bountiful harvest? Be willing to get involved in the lives of those who come across your path. I figure if I can get excited about seeing strawberry blossoms…I probably should be even more excited to see someone else blossom in their relationship with our Jesus. And just think…that’s a harvest that affects eternity!
“He said to his disciples,
‘The harvest is great, but the workers are few.
So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest;
ask him to send more workers into his fields.’”
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