It was a good day for picking

I spent a day two months ago planting strawberries (see a previous posting). Well, a couple of weeks ago we picked some strawberries. It was an interesting experience. I've picked lots of strawberries over the years, most when I was a teenager or younger. There were lots of times I went with my mom as a kid to pick strawberries. Some summers we picked 60-100 quarts of them! The fruit is delicious, and good for you too.
Anyway, back to our recent experience: My wife, son, mother-in-law and I picked a couple of pails-full. It was my son's first time in the strawberry patch. He loves strawberries! He would eat a whole quart if we let him. I showed him how to find the berries: lift up the leaves and look underneath. Check eat berry before you pick it; you don't want any white or green spots. I think he put as many into his mouth as into the pail. He had fun, and learned more about where strawberries come from.
Now, some of you may be thinking that I picked the strawberries I helped plant two months ago, but that's not the case. Strawberries planted this year will not produce fruit until next year. You've got to plant in faith and wait for the harvest. When the harvest is ready, be prepared to work hard.
As followers of Jesus, we must be always planting seeds, but we must wait for the harvest. The fruit does not appear overnight. But a harvest will come! We must always be looking for ripe fruit, ready for harvesting, and not just where we planted seeds. Who knows where seeds have been planted? The Gardener will let us know when the crop is ready, and when He does, we need to be ready to work.
Are you working? There's a harvest out there if we know where to look and what to look for!
Blessings,
David

Wasn't That a Party!?!

What a Canada Day we had! I must confess that I didn't skip church. I was speaking at a church in Ajax in the morning - you know, they were desperate and so they asked me to fill in! : )
A few days prior, we talked to a couple of friends about possibly having a party on Canada Day, but there were no definite plans. So, when we got home from church, we thought it would be good to do something. We began calling lots of different people, giving them only a few hours notice to come to a Canada Day BBQ at our house. If everybody showed up, we would have had almost 30 people there. Some were away, some couldn't come, and so we had 15 people altogether. We called some who didn't have a lot of connections and maybe wouldn't be doing anything else that day. A couple of them showed up, and it was nice to see everyone warm up to one another.
We didn't have anything fancy, just some burgers and sausages, along with salads (some brought by friends) and some finger desserts. We even had some Canada Day ice cream, also brought by friends. I've never seen it before. It's made by Chapmans, and it's called "Canadian Vanilla, Eh." It's vanilla ice cream with a red maple leaf insert in the middle. You serve it in slices so everyone gets a cross section of the maple leaf in their serving. We even sang O Canada as it was being served. (I didn't intend this, but I just jokingly sang the first few words as I saw the ice cream sitting on all the plates, and then others just joined in and there was no turning back.) Later, we drove down to the waterfront, parked on sidestreets and walked down to the bottom of Liverpool Rd to watch the fireworks. It was really crowded! But it was great to sit with friends (many of whom had never met each other before) and enjoy it.
It was a great day. It was one of my more memorable church experiences. It was lots of work, and cost a little, but getting together with friends, family and neighbours is always worth it!
Now, I'd like to hear your Canada Day adventures! Who will be first?
Blessings,
David