It's a "Berry" Good Idea!

Raspberries are ready to pick in North Idaho and as I began picking mine, I was reminded of the many times I picked them with my daughter. As she was growing up, I took many opportunities to discuss life with her. Berry picking had the best analogies to help her realize her importance in this world and the importance of others. As we picked, I would start telling her things like, “beauty is not always easily seen just like some of the best berries are not easy to find". So we would pick and think of one analogy after another. She joined in with her examples and me with mine.

Today while I was picking berries (no daughter around), I began thinking of all of those analogies we used to come up with and thought I would share some of them with you but in the realm of genealogy. Now I am using this for genealogy, but you can apply these things to anything in life. You can compare it with business, people, animals, school, church, being a mother, teacher, missionary, or genealogist. Allow yourself to use your imagination and thinking skills to see what you can come up with.

I have some pictures to help illustrate some of my thoughts so let’s begin.

Sometimes I look at my research and think, “This is just too overwhelming, there’s nothing out there for me, I just can’t do it.” I agree that sometimes it looks that way. When I look at my berry bushes, I sometimes see nothing in site and get discouraged that there are no berries….BUT… if I just go in a little closer, I see new things. If we will just step into research and take one little area to concentrate on, we may find something we thought was not there – we may actually find that there is a lot more in there for us than we could possibly imagine.

Once we get into the berries (our research), we may find some of the fruit is ready and easily picked but others are still not quite ripe enough.  The same thing comes when we are researching.  Some information is loaded onto the internet or in books or microfilm and more ready to reap the harvest but other information is still not readily available to us.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sometimes we need to look a little harder.  It may well be out there, but hiding in some obscure place.  It is important that we turn over every leaf.  I've said this before but we sometimes need to think out of the box.  Ask ourselves, "What leaf have I not turned over?"
 

Looking high and low and into every corner may bring about fruit that was very hidden before.  I can't tell you how many times I have researched an area only to look at it in a different way and found that missing piece that opened up my lines.  Think about being in that berry bush and the times you may have picked an area only to go to the other side of the bush to find a whole new grouping of berries that were just not seen from the original view.  Sometimes the weeds of research choke out what we are looking for (the areas that charge for their services) but if we just deal with the problem at hand things may be for our benefit.

Once in awhile, right in the middle of your picking, you find something strange growing.  As you get working on it, you find a whole new tree growing out of the bushes.  What a find!  (Mine is a new plum tree!)

The bottom line is, if you stick to picking, work through the problem areas and deal with the difficulties as they come along, dig deep inside to find those hidden treasures, turn over each leaf, and don't let your first view discourage you, you may just come up with more that you thought was there.