The Golden Fruit Tree

I was determined to make one more post before the year ended and I have barely made it. So here I am on the very last day of 2011! Gosh, the year got away from me and all my blogs have been silent. Not by choice, though, as I truly enjoy blogging and often feel frustrated that I can't take the time to focus to write posts to share.

Here is a heart-warming story for you to finish the year. 

We have an orange tree in our back yard that we planted when we moved to our house in 1992. We planted it in memory of my parents, who gave us our first orange tree when we originally moved to Florida in 1984. 

We could not take the tree with us when we moved to another house, so we researched the best oranges and best trees that thrive with little care (LOL) and came back home with an Amber Sweet orange tree. It has been a hard little worker bee all these years, bearing luscious fruit every year with no maintenance from us - just God's radiant blessing,  sunshine, and rain. 

The fun thing is that it has one season of bearing fruit - Thanksgiving through Christmas. It is like having little golden presents for the holiday months of sweet orange nectar that graces our holiday tables. They are so very juicy and a treat to those with whom we share. When family comes home for the holidays, they take back 25-30 lbs of oranges from the tree to their home states up north.

And so it was this week. We had the annual "picking of the oranges" to send with them as they left for the north where the winter chill is in full swing.  It is such an exciting treat for them, that it gives me pause. I don't want to get complacent about the abundance of sunshiny fruit that we enjoy each year.

As I ponder this last year, I don't want to get complacent about the abundance of blessings our family has had. Much like the fruit, our blessings are there for us and I want to savor every one of them!

Happy New Year to each and every one of you.