i had to... i just had to!

guess what i bought for myself this weekend.
yep!
i bought a big bag of cherries.

partly because it feels like summer. partly because they looked so delicious in the produce market, staring up at me all shiny and red and sweet, calling out to me... "take me home!"

and then b. reminded me just now, "don't forget you have a big bag of cherries in the fridge." oh, yeah! i almost forgot!

and then i was reminded of the post i did last year that was all things cherries and all things encouraging, and i thought about how much i could use that post again.

so i reposted it below.

~~~

{written july 20, 2009 }

that's it.
life is.

i'm seeing so much pain and heartache
going on around me.
loss of loved ones.
need of a break because
of feeling burned out.
sickness and disease.
financial struggle.
job loss.
job stress.
broken relationships.

i'm reminded every day
by visiting blogs and making friends
that there are so many struggles
that we all face on a daily basis.
but i'm also encouraged every day,
by the help and outpouring of support
and encouragement that is right there too––
from complete strangers.
from acquaintances.
from friends.

so i was happy when taking pictures today
of the cherries that cost me a bundle––
cherries i should not have bought,
because we are trying to cut back
on the extras right now.

but i realized,
there are just some things
that i don't want to let go of
no matter how hard it gets.
i don't want to stop eating ice cream.
i don't want to stop buying summer cherries.
i don't want to stop having coffee with a friend,
every once in a while––
even if it costs four or five times more
than what it would cost to make it at home.
i want to keep drinking my favorite lemonade.

in other words, sometimes there is so little
for us to actually really call our own
in this life.
and that's okay.
it's the little things
like coffee.
cherries.
lemonade.
ice cream.
that make a day sweet.
no matter how difficult life gets.

and life is...
sweet.
precious.
full.
wonderful.
too short
to not eat cherries.

i couldn't find more joy
than i do in picking up my camera
and taking some silly pictures.
pictures of color––the brightest green.
pictures of shapes and negative space.
pictures of light and shadow
blending into one.
pictures of abounding sweetness
in just one small cherry.
pictures of wealth––
the kind that comes from
being rich with gratitude,
not with dollars.
taking pictures...
one of life's cherries
in its own bowl full of many.

i think cherries were
my dad's favorite fruit.

did you ever notice
how the words cherry and cheery
are so close––just one letter off?

i'm happy today.
life is good.
it's not perfect.
but it's good.
probably one day very soon,
i will find it less easy to say.
but right now,
i feel that my life is good.
and i feel blessed.

i hope you do as well.
if you don't,
then i pray that you will.
when i don't,
please pray that i will, too.

~ ~ ~

remember the part where i said "i'm happy today. life is good. it's not perfect. but it's good. probably one day very soon, i will find it less easy to say."

well, today is one of those days when i find it less easy.

that pain and that heartache going on around me that i mentioned... it's still there. different people... some very close to me. different situations. but still there.

and like last year when i wrote this post, i am once again in the unemployment boat. a very scary place, to be sure.

but everything i said above still holds true. and i am trusting for provision once again.

i just needed to see this post again to remind myself, and since i'm not much in the blogging spirit, i thought i would repost an oldie-but-goodie, especially since i got such a warm response the first time.

now, i think i'll go have some of those cherries.
good night.

xo