Some of you may or may not know that I have been picking strawberries for a local farmer. It isn't a large commercial patch that ships to the grocery stores, just a small one that peddles a little and allows customers to self pick their own. We usually pick around 20 buckets or flats for him to peddle on the road. Doesn't pay a lot but it is enough for a little spending cash that doesn't count against my unemployment.

Well before I went out to pick a dear friend of mine said, "Now Becky you pray out there in the patch. You pray over each sweet berry for the lips it might touch. You pray for the patch as it might be really fruitful this year for the farmer. You make sure that you also appreciate that little job and do it completely as if you are doing it upon the Lord."
 
So I took her advice, and I found that it became quite enjoyable. I mean the three hours or so passed by pretty quickly and my back didn't seem to ache as much as some of my other peers out in the patch said thier backs ached.

Then came this other picker named Gary. Well Gary is just a good ole boy. He pulls up in his beat up ole pick up Toyota truck, which is painted a had painted camouflage, and has a rooster in a cage in the bed of the truck. Usually one of his sons come and pick with us, one strapping 30 something, and sometimes a 15 year old Jethro type son. Gary is in his late 60's and usually out picks all of us at the patch.

Then Gary and sons came to pick with us. In my mind, I didn't think too much about the ole truck. But in my mind, I did think wow that is a work truck and that rooster, hmm wouldn't see that in the city. I still didn't judge this book by its cover, I know how people have ole work trucks. But quite honestly, I did think something not pleasant about the older son. Why isn't he out working a good job instead of picking berries with his dad. But then the Holy Spirit said, um, Becky YOU are picking berries.

Then through conversations I find out that Gary is not only a Christian, but has always lived as Jesus would have him to do in the way he treats others. This is a man who has raised FOURTEEN children, and not all of them are his. He adopted a child whose parents where in jail. He even took in his ex-wife and kids by another man that were having times of financial trouble.

After our conversations on poke salad, I asked Gary to show me what poke greens looked like, as they told me there was a whole field by the patch. I then had to tell him how I appreciated him having the heart of the biblical characters of old, David, Abraham and Moses. See It takes a heart of David to love, a heart of Abraham to follow, and a heart of Moses to do things (raise that many people) even when people say you are crazy.

Anyway, the morale of this story is:



Whatever you do, whether it be in action, verbalization, or even thought, Let it always be done as if you are doing, or thinking it upon the Lord.

That was my lesson out in the strawberry patch as I was getting a heavenly poke from the Holy Spirit.