Raspberry Rescue

                          Raspberry Rescue

      My family had rented a garden plot for several years. We had planted a raspberry plant that thrived in the sunny plot, in the rich soil, to which we had added organic soil. Since we had moved, the time came to close this garden, as we began a new garden in the yard of our new home.
      I had planted a raspberry plant in this garden, and it had spread over the three years. I went to dig up the plants, which faced certain destruction by by a lawn mower or future gardener, clearing the plot. As the “raspberry plant rescuer”, I hastily dug up the plants, preserving the roots as well as I could, stuffing them in two large pots. I worked quickly, not knowing how soon the plants might be subject to destruction. It was after dark, when I drove home with the plants, in the back seat of my car. Because it was late, they were left in the back of the car overnight.
      If the raspberries could thank, feel and talk, what would they say? They had just endured a harsh winter, only to be uprooted and stuffed, crowded together in two pots, before they could even sprout leaves. Would they wonder what would happen to them, just left crunched together in the pot, in the car, with little room, so that the canes were pressed down by the car roof?
      The next day, their anxiety about their future was alleviated, as I transplanted all of them to a much larger patch than they had, with rich soil, though maybe not quite as sunny.
      So we can learn from the experience of the raspberries. When unexpected trauma occurs and we are uprooted and crumpled into a frustrating, uncomfortable situation, the outcome of which is not known, we can trust our Heavenly Father to bring us through to the better patch for our good.
      The raspberry bushes now have 10 times the space that they formally did and are spreading!