Adventures in...Walnuts?
During our second year of marriage, to say that times were tough would be an understatement. I was a full-time college student, we were traveling to preach services on weekends, I worked for the custodial department at the college, and my wife was providing childcare for local families, but we were still struggling to make ends meet. One day I came home from work to meet my smiling wife who was confident that she had solved our financial problems. Allow my young self to tell the story…
Walnuts
It’s been hard lately. Groceries are scarce. There was a country song called “Living on Love” that came out some years ago. Well, we have love in abundance, but by all other measurements we are in poverty. Today I came home from work to see my wife pushing the kids she is watching in a stroller and picking up black walnuts. Overwhelmed with excitement, she says, “Our financial problems are solved!” “That’s awesome!”, I responded. “How?” She says, “I found out that you can sell walnuts for $10 a hundred! We have picked up at least a thousand. These people just leave them laying on the ground. It’s crazy!”
I wanted this to be true with all my heart, but I had questions. “Who told you that?”, I asked. She told me that it was an older man in our church, so we decided to ask him again. “$10 per 100 pounds, shelled and dried,” was his response. Anna May immediately burst into tears. On the bright side, we now had a lot of walnuts!
Life Lesson
Life brings all kinds of seasons. Some are easy and some are difficult. Choosing the path of contentment and learning to laugh at ourselves on occasion has value. The walnut story is funny looking back, but it really wasn’t at the time. We were trying to get through college without debt and sometimes that meant not having a whole lot of food available. Nonetheless, God was with us, and we learned to live by faith in a way that has served us well throughout life. The apostle Paul wrote,
I know both how to face humble circumstances and how to have abundance. Everywhere and in all things I have learned the secret, both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things because of Christ who strengthens me. -Phillippians 4:12-13
Pro Tip
Before throwing yourself into a new money-making endeavor, make sure you have all the details.
Friendly Suggestion
If you see a young couple that is struggling badly enough that they are out picking up walnuts for money, ask yourself if there might be a way you can help.