An outstanding feature of my summer garden is an archway made of cattle panels connecting one raised beds to another. Growing on this arch are mikte, Armenian cucumber, vines that form a tunnel the length of two raised beds. The cattle panels are bent and the bottom edges are braced against the inner sides of the walled beds. Metal posts anchor the panels deep in the rich garden soil. Eventually, a thick canopy of mikte vines grow, allowing the fruit to dangle down amongst the leaves.
Part of my daily morning routine is to walk under this live canopy and pick the ripe mikte. I gently pull back the giant vine leaves to search for the elongated, slightly cyrved, light green, sometimes illusive mikte.
This morning, as I stopped and made my way under the arch, diligently looking, I repeatedly hit my heat on something, yet I searched on, ignoring the inconvenience. After the third or fourth bumping, I glanced up and at first saw nothing. Then, lo and behold, a giant mikte dangled barely visible in the middle of the arch. My mom would’ve have said, “if it was a ssnake, it would have bit you!”
I giggled, plucked the “bumping” culprit, and brought it in to show my husband. It was huge!
Later in the day, the thought came to me. . . . Isn’t that the way life is? We daily search and strive for a “prize” which in reality is right in front of us! Sometimes God has to repeatedly bonk me on the head to get my attention.
The harvest, mikte, cucumber, fruit, prize, or whatever is right there ready to be picked!
How many times do you have to be bonked on the head?
You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with etermal pleasures at your right hand.