The Harvest was Plentiful...

...but I was not! So I have a pea growing follow-up…  they grew!!  Their little tendrils and my makeshift chicken wire growing fence worked.  And my goodness did they grow!  They were as tall as me- it was like a pea jungle out there. At the farmer’s market I even saw that you can eat the pea greens.  I did not try this, but I know now that it is a future possibility. 

So the next lesson I learned is about harvesting.  The peas came in over a period of a week or two.  They were so sweet right off the vine.  My dad told me that peas have some enzyme that makes them start tasting bad or something like that starting as soon as you pick them.  So I was trying to delay picking them until I was exactly ready to eat them or pack them for a snack.  But something horrible happened!  The plants were done.  Peas are a cooler weather crop and as the temperature heated up, the plants were drying up. 

On a Sunday I had tried to pick off a lot of the sweet pods while starting to pull out the plant to make room for my summer plants. I didn’t have enough time and was planning to take care of the rest later in the week.  When I came back to them most of the yummy green juicy pods had turned into tough brown dried out stuff. No, not my peas!!!  I had missed my golden (or green) picking opportunity!  Ugh, I ended up having to toss the plants with a lot of brown pods into the compost heap where they will heat up and rot on down instead of getting to enjoy them.   

Then I realized how true is this of Jesus’ words as he sent out his disciples in Matthew 9:37-38 “Then he said to his disciples, 

“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

And in Ecclesiastes 3:2- there is a TIME to harvest. There is a time in people’s lives to invite them into a life with Jesus that we need to be aware of.  Jesus said it- the harvest is there but the workers are few… what does this look like?  We need to be praying more to be aware of our role and the perfect time in harvesting.  It means I can’t wait until I am ready (on my time), but need to be willing to sacrifice instead when the harvest is ready. We need to take advantage of that time and chance we are given- then and there… cause even waiting a few days can lose the opportunity of when that harvest was ready.  I love that my garden teaches me life lessons.