Value

Before I left for my weekend trip I checked on my peach tree.  The peaches were still very small, but ripe and ready to be picked.  I knew I was leaving and didn't have time to do something with all of the peaches.  Because of their size it was going to be a lot of work for little yield, so I decided to put it off until I returned.  Well, last night we had a massive wind storm, or as I like to call it, a haboob. This afternoon when I walked back to the tree ready to harvest, I was met with a disturbing site, all the peaches scattered across the rocks below.  I remained calm thinking surely there would be some left on the tree.......

This is all that was left on the tree.  6 peaches.  I again tried to remain clam thinking that surely some could be rescued from the ground.......unfortunately, not so.  They were all badly bruised because they hit the rocks and then it was very hot today so they just kinda turned to mush which then attracted the ants and bugs.  My heart just sank.  I babied that tree.  I thinned it because a little old farmer on youtube instructed me to....although, I didn't thin it enough because it was scary removing that much fruit, but I tried.  I even kept the bugs away with his methods.  I watered it and talked to it and encouraged that little tree to bare delicious fruit.  

With my sunken, sullen heart, I picked up all the peaches from the ground and filled a 13 gallon garbage bag with them.  The bag was pretty heavy and I started to get even more sad at the thought of all this wasted fruit that I had so lovingly cared for.  How could I make this now useless fruit regain some value?

Recovering value is not a quick and easy process.  I had to put forth significant effort again for fruit that was now NOT going to fulfill the purposes for which I envisioned and intended.  I sat down under the shade of my now fruitless tree and began the process of removing the pits.  If they could not be used as food for our bodies they could at least be used as food for our soil.  The soil in my garden this year was less than stellar and nothing really grew right, so maybe these peaches could sacrifice themselves to help me get a better garden next year.  I said my final goodbyes and covered up the large heap of peaches to make into a compost.  

This process made me think of OUR value.  Parents put forth significant effort into baring good fruit....our children.  There are circumstances or haboobs beyond our control that occur in our lives and the lives of our children our friends and our family members.  Sometimes the things we have planned out don't work the way we thought they should.  Does this lessen the value?  No, it only changes it.  Sometimes we are too quick to toss aside those around us who we feel have lost their value.  Maybe we can help them discover a new value.  The Master Gardner knows the value of each of his children and what His purposes for them are.   He sees value where others don't.  There is also no value unrecoverable through the power of the atonement.   There is no process too lengthy.  We can pray to be blessed with new eyes to see as He sees so that we may not only know the value of those around us, but our own value as well.  It may be different than we imagined or hoped for but it is exactly the plan that our loving Heavenly Father had for us all along, we just need to be open to seeing it.