The heart of it...

My parents always sliced a watermelon when I was young. 

We kids would grab a slice, sit on the porch together and a seed spitting competition would begin! Definitely a happy childhood memory! 

At some point, when I became an adult and paid for my own watermelons, I decided that scooping it out into a dish was my preferred way to eat it. Slices are too messy.

Once, when we were staying with my in-laws, I bought a watermelon and helped myself to some in my usual way. Later on that evening, my father-in-law took the foil off the partially eaten watermelon sitting in the fridge and with great shock at what he uncovered said, "Who took the heart right out of the watermelon?!"

I said, "Umm....me." Suddenly realizing that he was old-school and thought scooping the heart out of it was the WRONG way to eat a watermelon!

He might be right. 😉

The heart is the best part and when it's gone, the rest of the watermelon is not quite the same. It's still good but it gets more distasteful the further you get from the heart and the closer you get to the bitter rind. Then what's left gets thrown out.

Sometimes, we do this same thing in life. We take the best part and leave the rest. I guess it's human nature.

As a woman, I know that this happens to us. We give and give of ourselves until we have nothing left taking care of our homes, families, spouses and working jobs. Then we walk around feeling empty because the heart is gone and that's a tough place to be. Empty, numb and sometimes bitter.

When we get so far from the heart of things, we just want to get the sweetness of life back. We want to get back to the heart of it all.

I'm so glad that God gives the best part instead of taking it.

When we have nothing left and it seems that all the good parts have been scooped out, is when He fills us up again...to overflowing.

He never fails.

Trust Him.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 NIV

Roots

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before but I get picked on a lot. ❤

It seems that my childhood stories (and some from adulthood) get twisted and used against me.

All in fun, of course!

One of those stories is about roots. It usually comes up something like this...

We are eating a meal and someone complains or makes a comment about something we are eating. Then somehow it turns into a question geared toward me, "Didn't you used to eat roots?"

Then I argue, "No! I did NOT eat roots!"

They all laugh at me. Then I go into the "roots" story explaining that when I was young, my dad was a part time pastor and worked full time in the lead mines. At times, he was either laid off or on strike and had to provide for his large family. One of the things he did during these times was dig ginseng roots. They are interesting looking and worth quite a lot.

When we kids got home from school, he would make us clean buckets of roots with a toothbrush. After they were washed, he laid them on the roof of our house to dry in the sun. Then he sold them. I remember how proud he was once when he got his check and was able to buy groceries!

I have to say that even though it's a joke on me now-a-days, I'm sure this work ethic displayed for me by my dad greatly impacted my life. He found a way to get us through those difficult times.

It's no joke to me that these are my roots. I'm glad they are.

I'm thankful for parents who worked hard and made an honest living as an example for their children. Even if it makes for a funny story later in life ❤

Plant your roots in Christ and let Him be the foundation for your life. Be strong in your faith, just as you were taught. And be grateful. Colossians 2:7-9 (CEV)