Strawberry Jam

So just what is our fixation with food?  I would probably be fine with the ol’ 1-a-day if that would be enough to sustain life.  Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the benefits and pleasures of food:  all senses involved, the fellowship that is closely associated, the special celebrations that require special delectables, and yes, even the occasional squishy of fresh strawberries in the colander.  But ponder the reality of just how often we eat/snack/indulge (thinking of chocolate, here) in food.  It’s the first thing on my youngest’s mind in the a.m.  It’s always on the minds of my husband and my dog.  It takes too long to prepare for the time it takes to devour.  Although the salmon on the barby last night was marvelously worth the wait.  It can be an adventure, like Teya & I had making hummus & adding different spices etc.  Or it can be a mixed blessing, like making strawberry jam.  summer = strawberries. The firstfruits, as I see it, of the earth after the cold of winter and the wet of spring.  I do like the sweet taste and texture of the rosy-red heart-shaped treasures.  Especially the wild ones (maybe that’s just my nature).  They are too sweet for their own tiny size!  So we tackled the u-pick and came away with 48.5 lbs.  We were dirty, the berries were dirty, but the price was right & ripe for the pickin’.  And that’s another thing.  What’s up with the food references in tight places?  How’d I get in this pickle anyway?   Help!  Get me outa this jam!  Hey, we’re packed in here like sardines!  Well, he’s a hard nut to crack.

I guess I like the jam theme, ‘cuz once you’re in one, you might remember the sovereignty of God in ALL things, thereby pronouncing any particular “tight place” a jam – or rather a strawberry jam.  Because once you have been in the heat and the thick of things over the fire, poured out into the scalding jar, bathed in boiling water, left to cool off on the rack……

Someone in want of what you now have to give comes along and spreads your experiences over the bread of their life and it sweetens each bite.

Lord, let me remember – the next time I face trials of many kinds and consider myself to be in a jam – let me remember what Christ did for me and the sweetness He now brings to all situations and let me Rejoice in Strawberry Jam!