Among the Goliath weeds and dried corn stalks, roam my pea vines; more rich in vines and scarce in pea pods, I appreciate every last pea I find! Jesus taught in parables that He values every single soul that is still out in the world, not yet gathered into His Father’s house.  In late summer, early fall, there’s a rustle of harvest in the wind that thrills my senses. It’s pea picking’ time.

I always fail to eke out a pea patch from my husband’s crop land, so the pea seed must land in my fertilized garden where they grow rank, as do the weeds that thrive among pathways too grown over for our tiller. At a glance it looks pointless to even wander into the mess, but once within that daunting jungle, I find the hidden rubies that I call cornfield peas. Some years there are purple hull peas, but this year I only planted the heirloom seed from my Daddy, that I plant and save each year.  These also have purple hulls, grow longer than the traditional purple hull, and have a similar taste. From the ground to the top of corn stalks above my head, the pea vines run  over around and through anything in their paths. Along the maze can be found pods of delicious delight for the taking. And there I find each year that even the undesirable have a purpose. The strong stalks of pigweed, much to the horror of you dainty clean gardeners, provide arches as do the cornstalks I plant next to my peas for that very purpose. In my clean pea patches of the past, was the backache of bending to pick peas. Here in the land of traveling towering vines, I just reach out and take in. It’s like making lemonade when you’re given a lemon.

As I picked I was reminded of my first look at Guyana, S.A. where I had the privilege of working with our mission team on several occasions. Unfortunately, the first impression was made while taking in the canals of rotting animals and sewage, along with the odor of a factory’s byproducts. Our taxi ride made me seriously question the reason for being there. However, just one meeting with the delightful thankful Guyanese made it clear. There are jewels to be garnered among the rankest of weeds. I fell in love with the children, as well as the humble adults who welcomed us into their homeland. Never be so shortsighted as to judge the garden by the weeds. Oh, not as pleasant for sure in getting to the goods, but more gratifying at many levels. God didn’t say reaping grain among tares, peas among weeds, nor souls out of the world would be easy. He just said do it.

The first job ever given to mankind (unless you count ‘be fruitful and multiply’) was to dress the garden (Genesis 2:15).  While the difficulty of the job increased after ‘the fall’, the responsibility remained. “Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field (Genesis 3:18). Prepare the soil, plant, fertilize and water, and weed out the undesirable plants until harvest. This will not be done without getting our hands dirty, and rubbing elbows with some real stinkers! Pigweeds, crabgrass, and squash bugs are probably my most detested garden inhabitants. There are indeed problems in the world, some we cannot live with and some we just have to work around. Whatever pigweeds are in your life, just use them to bring God glory with a good harvest.

“Do you not say ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.” John 4:35 ESV