Blueberries (tumanas) and . . . . Freedom

Interesting title, huh?  So, how do blueberries and freedom go together?  Well, let's begin with the blueberries.  In Peru we call them tumanas and the season for finding them is very short.  They begin showing up in the market places at the beginning of May and they're usually available for about 3-4 weeks.  When the call goes out that somebody is selling them at the market, there's a rush to stock up on them - at least from those of us who are extranjeros :)   Having blueberries (tumanas) means . . . blueberry muffins, blueberry pancakes, blueberry cobbler, . . . Yum!!

Of course, after you buy the tumanas and before you can begin baking/cooking with them - there's a bit of work to do.  First, they have to be cleaned in a clorox/water mixture.  Then, begins the very time-consuming process of sorting through them.  There are leaves, rotten berries, and lots of stems mixed in with the good berries.  Basically, you have to go through them berry by berry :)

Well, yesterday I was sitting at the table, sorting the berries, and dreaming about blueberry pancakes.  And as time went on, and my fingers began turning purple, I began to think about the cost involved with those blueberry pancakes.  Was it really worth it - picking through a kilo of blueberries - berry by berry?  Well . . . YES!!!!   My fingers might be purple and my hands might be cramped, but my mouth was watering and I could taste those pancakes!  Definitely worth the cost!!!

So, I continued working on the berries and I began thinking about other things that have costs involved with them - like freedom.  

Living outside of the States gives you some perspective on the freedoms that we really do enjoy as citizens of the United States.  Yet those freedoms do not come without a cost.  I think of our Armed Forces (and my nephew :) who, often times, "sleep with their boots on" so that you and I can sleep peacefully at night.  Is that easy for them?  No - and yet they do it - for the sake of the freedom that our country was built on.  They know the cost. 

Another freedom that comes with a cost is freedom in Christ.  I am free because Christ paid the price of my sin with His death on the cross.  Christ knew the pain that He would endure, and yet, He did it willingly - for me and you.  

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus . . . "   - Romans 8:1-4