I live in Florida, which means I have easy access to tropical fruits and delicious vegetables – right out of the field, or right out of our backyard grow boxes – almost any day of the year.
Recently, my wife and I acquired an enormous number of free bananas. Two of our fruit-growing friends suffered a loss of several bunches of bananas in their early growth stages when a windstorm blew through, and they fell off the tree. The bananas will still ripen and are edible, even though they’re only about the size of an average adult thumb. Overwhelmed with hundreds of bananas, our friends convinced us to take “some.” Enamored with a love for local bananas and the lovely frugalness of free fruit, we took more than some…we took a LOT!
We’ve been steadily eating them as they ripen but faced a large quantity this morning that were all ready. So, I brainstormed and decided to peel, mash, and make some fried banana cakes. They were delicious. What a wondrous solution to Bananarama 2019!
This morning’s bananaopoly got me thinking about blessings. If you read this blog regularly, you know that I’ve been working on publishing a book. After months of writing and editing, everything was set to go. And then came a dreaded email from the publishing house a couple days ago. “Your cover needs adjusting…please submit a new cover…blah, blah, blah.”
I was not happy. I’m speaking at an event on Sunday where I had hoped to have copies of the book available for people to purchase. I’ve basically earned no income for most of 2019, so I was excited to finally start earning something to contribute to the household. Life had dealt me a momentary lemon.
But as so often happens, my lemon was followed by a reflection on my blessings. I’ve been able to take time to write a book because of being blessed with having enough to sustain us during a period when I’m not generating income. I’m blessed to have a wife who has continued to work to help sustain us during this period and who has helped encourage me to keep making progress when I was tired and wanted to give up. And I’m blessed with bananas…LOTS OF BANANAS!
When life gives you lemons, look for and eat some bananas. I know there are a lot more serious issues in many people’s lives than my recent “lemon,” and I don’t intend this as some kind of trite salve for serious problems, heartaches, and issues. But it’s a good reminder to look for and remember the blessings. My hope for you is that your life is filled with abundant joy and blessings. Thanksgiving is right around the corner. It’s a great time to think back and reflect on that for which we are grateful.
Hope for the Heavy 