Blueberries & Abundance
It's hard to believe we've been in our home for ten years now. We moved in in the Summer of 2008 and the past ten years has flown by. We've seen so many changes since then, to our home, to our community, to our family and it hasn't always been easy. It shouldn't be any surprise that at times life can be tough. Things happen unexpectedly and part of being a family is seeing each other through the tough times and I can honestly say that we've come out on the other side stronger and with deeper roots than before.
If we would all just take a step back and breathe, just relax and breathe, we'll see that life provides in great abundance. No matter how tough it may be we are certainly provided for in abundance. I liken the abundance of life to the blueberry bush. Quite some time ago now we bought several blueberry bushes to plant in our yard. The first comparison to life is that the blueberry needs a companion. You can't just plant one, the blueberry needs to cross-pollinate. It needs a partner bush. Like our lives we can't go alone, we need the company of others in order to grow and produce meaningful fruit. Through our lives this need for a companion is met, a spouse, a brother, sister, mother, father, cousin, co-worker or friend. The people we need to grow are out there for us.
The second comparison I see is that blueberries take time. Once we bought and subsequently planted our two bushes we didn't get instant results. It took several years before we saw any fruit to our labor. Life can be that way sometimes too. We have to be patient with one another and remember that we are all unique individuals and we all require different amounts of time before we meet our potential. That's the time when we need to be understanding, compassionate, encouraging and respectful to one another. If anyone tells you that people don't really change they're dead wrong. We've changed in leaps and bounds since becoming a family. We were changed when we were married, and if marriage isn't changing you I promise having a child will! We're always in a state of development and I feel like we're morphing into a more cohesive unit with each passing day as a family.
The third comparison I draw to the blueberry is this. When our needs are met, when we've found our companions, our company in life, when we've then been nurtured and allowed to grow, when we've been shown the utmost patience and care, then and only then will the fruit come in great abundance. The blueberries we now have give us so much fruit that at times it's hard to keep up. Thankfully our family has been blessed with the same abundance as our blueberries. We will welcome a second child soon and this addition to our family is just another example of how abundantly we've been provided for as a family. It's a wonderful thing to watch how time and time again, even when we might not expect it, or feel like it, the abundance around us is overwhelming. The thought of that true abundance is warming and welcoming to our family as we hope and pray that it is to yours.