The child and the cherry tree

Kataleya tugged on my hand, pulling me towards the cherry tree. Throughout the past month she had accustomed herself to eating upwards of 20 cherries a day, freshly picked from our neighbor's bountiful tree. However, the cherries eventually began to dwindle in supply, then there were only a few up in the very top of the tree, and then...there were none, not even a shriveled one remained. 

It had been several days now of her leading me to the tree, wanting to eat cherries and me continually saying, "There are no cherries". We would walk around under the tree and I would show her that, in fact, there were no cherries to be found.

A day or so had passed and she hadn't pulled me towards the tree, so I was surprised when she did. Once again, I told her "No hay cereza," but she insisted. We entered our neighbor's lot (which is right across the street from us) and I sat her down on a rock underneath the shade of the cherry tree.

She dangled her legs back and forth, I didn't even think it worthwhile to scan the area for a cherry, they had long since been gone and if there just so happened to be one, it would be way up at the top. 

I am calculating how long we should hang out here and what other things I have to accomplish, when she lifts up her arm and points gleely up into the air. I turn to see what she is pointing at and with a slight lift of my head I see it: a bright, red cherry dangling just out of my reach. 

I am truly flabberghasted, it seemed impossible that there would be such a perfect cherry leftover after a whole week since the tree had last been shaken empty of its fruit. 

It was in this moment I realized why children have stronger faith than adults do. They always hold room for glory, they are always expecting something good to happen. As we grow, disappointments and let down expectations make us jaded and cynical, to the point where we cannot even comprehend that perhaps there actually is one more cherry hanging on just for us. 

Often times we miss the good thing because we choose to not look for it. We believe it won't be there. We give up. 

With a little bit of jumping and prodding, I managed to pick the cherry, finding not just one, but two that were within Kataleya's line of sight. She ate both contentedly, not surprised at all that she had found cherries waiting for her. 

Personally, I feel there are many ways I avoid seeking the fruit I need or want in my life. Words such as "impossible" "lost cause" "too late" "not realistic" "not there" "no luck" and "failure" pop up in my head frequently, doing very little to entice my heart into believing. This is when having others around me who encourage me in the truth makes such a big difference. They see it when I don't, they believe when I can't. But I never want that to be a substitute for my own seeing and believing with the eyes of faith. 

I want to be the one who tugs the hand of the other, knowing there is goodness out there for the finding, convincing the weary heart that there is a reason to walk just a little further, sit down and see the goodness come. Yes, we might have to look for it, yes, we might show up and it might not be there, but we keep going back, we keep showing up, we keep investing into what matters and what we believe in, knowing that we will see the fruit someday.

The fruit of your household, 

your family, 

your job, 

your marriage, 

your friendships, 

your dedication to the small things, 

your financial adminstration, 

your practice,

your investments, 

your time, 

your animals, 

your studies, 

your curiousity and

your waiting. 

It is there and it is worth believing in, working towards, and looking for.