Life is a Garden Party: Fruits of Summer

Berry canes heavy laden with ripe fruit and morning dew
offer good-for-you anti-oxidants in red, black or blue.
Bowed low with sweet berries waiting to be plucked -
one for your belly, two in a basket tucked.

Best eaten when warmed by the summer sun,
berry picking turns into a day of fun.
Serenaded by the happy hum of bees
or the musical scale of a fledgling wee.

Strawberries, blackberries,
raspberries, blueberries.
Perhaps for dessert: a pie, a cobbler, or crisp will be baked
heavy laden with fruit and topped with whipped cream on a plate.

Some preserved in jams or jellies in pretty jars,
often given as gifts to loved ones near and far.
Others will be savored this winter
while enjoying the fruits of summer.

Heavy laden with sweetness,
summer fruits are the best!

Fruit trees heavy laden with ripening fruit and dense leaves,
soon cherries, peaches, plums, pears, crisp juicy apples will please.
Sun shiny days spent filling a bucket or basket full
with sweet, satisfying nourishment by the handful.

Each month of the summer
and into October
quarts are filled with summer's bounty
filling shelves with a rainbow pretty.

Picking cherries in July, then summer peaches, before autumn's apples.
Making memories with one's family will one day be special.
A tradition most likely passed on
to the next generation born.

Seasonal fruits taste the very best.
You'll be glad you took time to invest.

* * * * *

Have you ever felt heavy laden?
Weighed down with worries turned into burdens?
Stressed out which does not allow for peaceful rest?
Anxiety is your everyday dress.

Carrying a heavy load is not God's plan for you.
You weren't designed to carry the heavy load you do.
Heavy loads can lead to health problems including depression.
Heavy loads zap you energy causing more vexation.

Worry is doubting God knows what is best.
Trust is the antidote to worry and stress.
You already know that worry is neither fair nor just.
Trust is confidence that God has a good plan and purpose.

That stress you hang on to is not God's best for you.
Realize God has a good plan purpose for you.
Often call to mind God's love for you personally.
His continual faithfulness will build trust daily.

Let trust in God trump over worry.
Let trust in God become your life's story.
Focus on God's faithfulness.
Worry will become less and less.

Do you no know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He give strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:29-31

Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me;
for I am meek and lowly in heart,
and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30 (KJV)

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30

Cast all your anxiety on him
because he cares for you.
I Peter 5:7

An anxious heart weights a man down,
but a kind word cheers him up.
Proverbs 12:25

Do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God.
And the peace of God,
which transcends all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7

"For I know the plans I have for you,"
declares the Lord,
"plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future."
Jeremiah 29:11

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope.
Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail,
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, "the Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
Lamentations 3:21-26