We have several pecan groves we harvest.
There is a lot of work before harvest time begins. Limbs that have broken off will have to be picked up and moved, so our harvester can scoop up the nuts without having limbs stuck in it. Some trees refuse to release their fruit by hanging on to them tightly, so we have a shaker to shake them loose when this happens.
Then there are those trees whose fruit is halfway decent, meaning some of the nuts are good, and some have nothing but dried up meat or wormholes all in them.
So the process of picking out the bad ones to throw away, and putting the good ones in sacks to be hauled off for people to use.
Some seasons we have a good harvest, and some seasons we struggle with more bad ones then good, due to droughts, flooding, bag worms, etc. We prune our trees, trimming the limbs we can that we know is weak and rotting, and the Oklahoma wind helps with the ones we can’t reach and we fertilize them helping them to be strong. But every year there is still a little pruning that needs to be done.
One of my favorite things to do after the first hard freeze is to grab my 5 gallon bucket and go pick pecans. I get down on my knees and start picking up the little boogers one by one. Occasionally I have a pesky squirrel barking orders at me to STOP collecting his goodies, but I keep on picking anyways. The good ones will be made into delicious foods, (these I call treasures), and the bad ones are left to rot away. Even the pesky squirrels won’t touch those.
We all have some kind of gift that God has blessed us with.
Maybe it’s the gift of giving, or being extra kind, maybe your gift is being a good listener, Or the gift of teaching others. Whatever your gift is, don’t hold onto it thinking it’s not worth the harvesting. Because I promise you some one NEEDS it in their life.
If you feel like you need a little pruning, that’s okay to. We all need to be pruned every so often, it makes us better, stronger, and more fruitful. God designed you for a very unique purpose. He instilled in you a gift that only you can give. You are uniquely, wonderfully, beautifully made in HIS image. You are simply a treasure my dear.
James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
Hebrews 13:16 “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”