| Galatians 6:9 – “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” |
For my entire life leading up to when I left for college, my parents had a big garden. They both worked fulltime jobs (my dad often worked 2 or 3 jobs at a time) but there was always the concern with how to care for our large family. The plan for the garden was not just to feed us fresh foods during the summer but to be able to preserve enough to last throughout the coming winter. Mom’s goal was to never have to buy vegetables at the store, although she would add lettuce or other greens occasionally.
But to accomplish this, that meant the garden had to be tilled and planted with enough crops to freeze or preserve hundreds of quarts of corn, green beans, tomatoes, beet pickles and anything else she could find. Long before we were able to enjoy this bounty in the middle of winter, many hours of work had to be done first. Weeding, watering, thinning, even occasionally applying bug sprays, all were necessary weeks ahead of the harvest. Daily attention to the crops was needed.
Then it was time for them to be picked, washed, and prepared for mom to spend endless hours with her pressure cooker or freezer containers, using jars or boxes that had been sterilized and made ready.
I remember one summer when my younger brother and I spent an entire day husking corn for mom to freeze. We got tired and cranky, and even a little bit silly, and were thrilled when our part of the job was done around 3 pm. We went off to watch tv or take a nap while our mother remained in the kitchen for several more hours finishing up the 100 quarts of corn that she was able to put into our large chest freezer.
At any time along the way my parents could have decided that there was just too much work involved in this whole process, but they never did. Caring for us was their primary objective.
How often do we get tired of doing good things when the harvest seems so far away? Endless hours of preparing Sunday School lessons, tutoring a struggling student where we volunteer, working in the nursery, taking meals to the sick – how easy it would be to just give up and let someone else do the work and worry about the results. But God has called each of us to be workers, and to continue that work until the harvest is done.
Prayer: Oh Lord, help me to keep going when I’m tired and the harvest seems so far away. I see the seed packets at the store and instantly want gorgeous beans or cucumbers. Help me when the days are long and hot to keep watering and weeding, so that when the day of harvest comes, my crops are ready and without blemish. Amen
– Betty Gossell
