There once was an orchard, rows and rows of mostly apple trees, but some peach trees, and lemon trees, and plum trees too. The orchard was surrounded by a very large gate, and inside the orchard were harvesters and farmers. Some harvesters had big baskets, some had little baskets, some had no baskets.

Some folks walked outside the gate, never peeking over the wall, just not interested in the orchard and the wonderful things inside. And that’s okay.

Some folks took the key to the gate, inserted it into the lock, turned the key and walked in. They passed through the gate, and stood just barely inside, watching all the harvesters gather their fruit in baskets. And that’s okay.

Others would walk over to one particular tree, and sit under that particular tree, and wait for apples to fall into their baskets. When the apples fell in, they were thankful. And when no apples fell in, they assumed the apples were all gone, so they took their basket and went home.

Still others would stand up, reach up into the apple tree and pick the fruit on the low branches. And their basket was full for awhile, but when the low-hanging fruit within reach was all gone, they too gave up.

Some folks squinted and squinted and looked up through their tree. They saw the glint of a shiny red apple a little higher, so they got a ladder, came back to the tree and climbed a little higher. They picked the apples, put them in their basket, and continued to climb the tree until the basket was full and the tree was… picked clean.

Some of these folks went home and decided to wait until the next season, when the apple trees began to bloom again and they felt they could start fresh with a new crop, a new basket, and maybe new apple-picking gloves.

Some folks took a nap under their tree. Meanwhile, other harvesters came, and saw more fruit at the very top, climbed the tree and harvested the fruit that the first farmer never looked to find.

And SOME folks, yes some folks, looked across the orchard, and found a brand new tree. It wasn’t an apple tree. No, this one was peach. But it had lots of fruit, and was ready for picking. They traveled to the tree – it wasn’t too far away, picking first the peaches on the bottom, then getting a ladder to reach the middle branches, and finally, climbing the tree to reach the fruit at the top. Occasionally, they would reach over to the plum tree and choose a plum. The next time, they would choose an orange. But life was good, and they knew that to consistently fill their baskets, they can’t sit under the same apple tree and wait for the apple to fall in.

So which one are you? Are you the person who is waiting for the customer to beat down your door with an order like the apple that falls straight into the basket? Are you the one who goes to your same group of 5 friends asking for sales like the harvester choosing only the low-hanging fruit? Or the one who climbs the tree, but then waits for the next season to come back to the same tree?

OR… are you the one with ladder in hand, and telescope ready, to harvest this tree, and scope out the next tree, maybe peach, maybe pear so that your basket is always full?

Don’t give up! You can do it! You’re already in the orchard, and there’s plenty of fruit for everyone. The fruit is waiting. Maybe in this tree, maybe in that one, but it’s there if you’ll go get it. Keep trying until you find a tree that bears fruit!!

© Karen Sipps 2010 for Team Trinity