Summer is both stunningly beautiful AND miserably hot here on Green Acres. In life, we have to accept the bad along with the good that comes our way. Push through the knee high weeds to capture the beauty of forgotten sunflowers. Push through an overgrown path to reach the ripened fruit. Look up high to pick the wild grapes that make the savory muscadine jelly. 

While walking around Green Acres in the intense heat yesterday, I took the time to do all of those things and the reward was worth the effort. 

In life, it takes hard work to get to the desired destination. Years and years of teaching slowly led me to the prize of special relationships and a place of retirement where the investment I made in my earlier years pays the dividend I can enjoy for the remainder of my life. 

Put in the work it takes up front to reach the beauty at the end. It’s worth the work. On the journey, make sure you are respectful and kind to all along the way because those same people cheer for you later in life. They are the beautiful sunflowers that arise unexpectedly from the weeds you encounter later in life.