Ripe Strawberries Are Sweeter

On many a June morning, breakfast comes to a standstill with the animated announcement (usually from Mom): “You guys, I forgot—there's strawberries!", and we mobilize like firemen to go pick. Sometimes, when production is still picking up and only some are ripe, one person gets selected for 'strawberry duty.' With all the ceremony used to crown a king, the returning harvester marches in and deposits the container on the counter, amid the “oohing” and “aahing” of all.
I won’t say any names (I don’t want to over-use my younger brother), but there are some of our number who have needed their picking skills, ahem, fine-tuned. After the initial triumphal march, at times a look at the fruit has given occasion for yet another exposition from Mom on the meaning of “daaark red." A factor in the blunder can be looking at a berry's sun-kissed side alone (the part with the most color) and deciding it's ripe enough, only to realize too late that the whitish-pink underside still leaves much to be desired. Nonetheless, no matter the reason, a picked strawberry is picked, so we eat the present and hope for the future.

Love Lesson:
None of us have the necessary skills to pick the perfect life companion, or even in the case of the right one, to know when. The problem is, we only get one chance. The only second chances approved of by the Word of God are if one's spouse has been unfaithful or died (see Matthew 19:9 & 1 Corinthians 7:39). "'Til death do us part” was meant to be more than just nice-sounding words—to last longer than the bride’s bouquet. Just like with strawberries, we can’t glue or tape our poor selections back to the stem. We’re stuck. We’ll have to 'eat' the present and hope for the future, a future that is now dependent on someone else’s choices as well as our own. We can’t afford to be 'in the dark' on the definition of "daaark red." Often, attraction causes us to look at only certain aspects of a person's character and decide they're 'ripe' enough. Are we only focusing on where the sun has shined: Their strengths and good qualities? Are we blind to, or excusing, traits that are unacceptable? From what I’ve seen, it's the very thing people excuse before they’re married that becomes the bitterest part of being married.
We have to be sure the person we marry is the person we want to have to love. I know that sounds very cold and unromantic, but it’s true. We like to think of love as a passionate feeling, but many times, it's most powerfully conveyed the moment we choose to go against our feelings. When we commit to love someone forever, we're pre-determining what choice we'll make every minute of every day, no matter the choices they do or don't make.