I had two very different berry picking experiences last week. The first was with my adorable twin toddler niece and nephew out in North Carolina. We went to a berry-picking farm where we were given small plastic buckets and sent off into the field to pick blackberries and blueberries. It was so easy a toddler could do it–and do it they did, shoving way more berries into their mouths than ever made it into their buckets.
The bushes were so full of berries! I think some very primitive hunter/gatherer instinct kicked in because it was really hard for us to stop picking berries even after we had way more berries than we needed in our buckets. We made muffins and a cobbler with lots of berries to spare.
My other berry picking experience was walking Fred along the river path. There are a few places where wild blackberries grow. I remember last year they were just starting to ripen around the 4th of July so I’ve been keeping my eyes open and a bag handy to pick some when I find them. It was tough waiting for a break in the rain to go on the hunt for berries, but when we were finally able to go for a walk, I was not disappointed. There seem to be way more berries than last year for those that have eyes to see and time to pick.
Picking wild berries along the river path isn’t as easy as picking them at the farm, and it was a different kind of delight than watching two two-and-a-half years old eat their way through a berry patch. There were more brambles and insects to contend with, but finding a wild berry patch was exciting. There’s the thrill of discovering a juicy bunch of berries hiding behind some leaves and the sadness of seeing some lovely berries just out of reach.
I’ve been reflecting on these two very different berry harvests this week as I dream of the birthday cobbler I’m going to make a few weeks. These two similar but different experiences remind me that sometimes in life, things come easy and other times they take a little bit more work—that sometimes there’s fruit hanging right in front of us begging to be picked and eaten, and other times, we have to keep our eyes open and pull back leaves to find the hidden fruit. It was a reminder that whatever season we find ourselves in, there’s joy to be had. There’s fruit to harvest and recipes to dream about.
Whether you’re in a season of ease, a season of discovery, a season of waiting, or some other season entirely, I pray you’re finding some delicious morsels along the way—that you aren’t afraid to get your hands dirty as you gather the gifts of God’s grace with cute toddlers, a faithful dog, or good friends by your side.
In Love,
Pastor Annette