Are You a Die-Hard?

Yesterday my fingers were purple, and a good Montanan knows why.

Huckleberries.

Our family drove into the mountains (don’t be thinkin’ I can give you details of the location of our huck spot) where we bent over in the brush and braved horse flies for two hours, all for three quarts of berries. These will grace the tops of waffles every Saturday morning for the next year.

Personality showed up in the woods. Caleb and I lost interest early and mostly whined about the bugs. Matt and Jayme, on the other hand, pressed onward and upward, seeking ever bigger berries and what Matt calls a “counting bush” (one with enough berries it’s worth counting them before picking).

We worked hard, climbing through thick brush to find berries. Of course, on the way home we drove by a massive patch right by the road but had no time left to stop for those. I thought Matt might hyperventilate to drive away from them.

Which led to discussion of the phrase “die-hard” and what he was willing to be a die-hard for. Finding the perfect huckleberry patch and staying there until the last berry falls into the bucket was definitely on his list.

It left me thinking –what am I willing to die hard for? To keep working at and pursuing until the bitter end, because it means so much to me.

“You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” (Hebrews 10:36 NIV)

When you see someone with purple fingers, you know they went up high on a mountain and stuck with tedious work in the brush for a long time in order to earn them.

Because it’s worth it on Saturday morning waffles.

Can I encourage you to stick with it today? I don’t know what “it” is, but I bet if you’ll keep going there will be fruit to enjoy down the road.