When I was a kid, we had a family garden. And, on countless days throughout the summer, my parents taught us about what it meant to work hard. You know, getting down in the dirt— pulling weeds, picking beans and working up a sweat. Especially when it came to green beans, I felt like the rows were never ending as we kept filling up one bushel after another.
Then, as a way to make it “fun” (insert sarcasm) in the evenings, we would each take our own bushel and a bin of clean water, and sit down in front of the TV to wash and snap. We mostly watched old musicals, Disney movies or Little House on the Prairie. We would snap and we would snap … and we would snap some more. I saw a childhood friend a few years back and one of her memories of me was how I would come to school with green under my fingernails. Yes— it was from all the snapping. Ha ha!
A bushel is equal to eight gallons of dry goods. A peck is equal to two gallons. So, all those times I heard my mom sing that old song, “A Bushel and a Peck,” (from the musical Guys and Dolls), I had a pretty good understanding of what she was talking about. And seriously, her love was like that— never ending. She would always remind us by singing this little tune (with the “doodle doodle doo doos” and all). There were times we drained her of her last ounce of sanity. As teens we caused her to cry a bucket of tears, which made many moments feel like a complete mess. Even so (as the song goes), I think she measured it all as “a mess of happiness.”
This week is a good time for all of us to reflect on whom it is that we love and pour into. Sometimes, it may feel like we’re working on a “bottomless bushel basket.” Maybe, for you, it may be a complete and total mess of a child, friend or family member. Many times, these situations can leave us completely wrecked. Yet, we still choose it. Because we know that if we didn’t have that person to love, yes – we might have cleaner fingernails, a cleaner house and a few more free hours of the day. But, isn’t it true that in the absence of all this craziness, our lives would be a little less meaningful, a little less full, and simply a little “less.” If you know that’s true, remind your “someone” of that today. And, if you’re feeling spontaneous, take a minute to dance it out with this song: “Bushel and a Peck.”
Listen along on Amazon Music: Bushel and a Peck
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