Yesterday I ate the first ripe strawberry from our patch. Yup, afterwards I realized I should have taken a picture of the berry before I ate it. Too late. LOL! So here is a picture of some of the ones that will hopefully be ripe next week. :)
I'm thankful for the lessons God has taught me over the years while tending our strawberry patch. Sometimes growth is slow, sometimes growth is fast. Sometimes it happens when you least except it... like when the June-bearing plants fruit again in September. We started with just four plants, now we have dozens.
God has taught me that sometimes life escapes the borders you put in place. Sometimes the healthiest thing you can do to gain control is to give a part of your life, or extra plants, away to your friends.
A patch of strawberries is full of possibilities. Just like your daily life, some things will mature to perfection, and some will become overripe before you notice them and need to be put in the compost pile. Sometimes when it looks ready from one angle, you turn it over and realize there is still maturing that needs to happen. As we seek God's direction, we learn to put down the good choices for the best choices!
The first ripe strawberry was wonderfully sweet and flavorful. Why is there only one that ripens days ahead of the rest? I may never know, but God does. That is another valuable lesson to learn about life: God has the answers, and He will reveal the ones we need, and keep the ones we don't need hidden. That is why we can trust Him, because His ways are higher than ours, and His ways are perfect!
Here is to many more ripe strawberries, and many more lessons to be learned in the garden!
When I was a child, I brought a strawberry plant home from my great grandfather's house (I called him grampie). I can remember the first strawberry I ate from that plant - the most delicious one ever! That memory is planted firm in my head, for some reason! And when I read this post, I was reminded. So, my comment isn't really relevant, but I wanted to share! 😉
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