Our Last Surviving Tomato

The Last Tomato

We stopped watering our garden over a month ago when the city started enforcing watering restrictions. The tomato plants were about through producing and were looking pretty sorry and soon were pitifully dried up, with just a few marble-sized green tomatoes clinging to the vines.

Then after all summer with no rain we got a whole inch last week and when I let the dog out a couple of days later, I noticed something red on one of the tomato plants. I was shocked to see this one little ripe tomato survivor, just waiting to be picked.

It reminded me of the last days of this earth's history. The Bible says there will be a "time of trouble" (Daniel 12:1). Amos says in ch. 8:11 that there will be a famine, but not of bread, and not a thirst of water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. But a remnant survives, those with the patience of the saints. Revelation 14:12

So, I honor my patient little "remnant" tomato. It gives me faith and courage that God will see us through to the end, even through enormous trials and persecutions.

How to Thrive

Just inspected our garden, or what's left of it, and it's a sad sight with this summer's drought. I decided about a week ago it wasn't worth it to keep watering, with voluntary water restrictions being called for in our city. We had been getting a fair crop of tomatoes up until then, but I was watering every day.

Likewise, I can't expect my spiritual garden to thrive when I fail to "water" it with prayer and Bible study every day.

This is how things looked in June, lush and green--

 And here are the same plants now, brown and dried up--

Worth the Work

I froze some tomatoes and green peppers from the garden today. It will be so nice to have them later on in soups and chili. They taste so much better than the store-bought ones. Even with all the hard to work to prepare the soil, do the planting, weeding, watering, and prep for the freezer, they are worth it.

It's like that with many of our life's accomplishments though. The more work you put into a project, the sweeter and more profitable it turns out to be. And looking at my own life, the harder I struggle and the more difficult my lot appears to be, I can still rely on a reward in heaven that God has promised when I trust and love Him. All my struggles will be worth it on that great resurrection morning.

ripening up just fine, despite the heat wave outside

(like me, ripening up for heaven)

Paying the Price

Our garden has been a rabbit playground all summer. Next year we've just got to have a better fence to keep them out, but for now I try to think of them as our little gleaners, and let them have what I can't get to first.

The other day though, it was rather a shock to see a dead rabbit between the cucumbers and peppers. I could afford a slight feeling of sadness, since I wouldn't be the one to dispose of the carcass, but I couldn't help but wonder how and why our garden happened to end up as the morgue. Even rabbits must have stories to tell.

Bottom line though, when you let rabbits run (or bad habits persist), you better have a shovel handy to bury the end result. Someone pays a price.

Stressings and Blessings

This is the second week of 100 degree weather, and the garden is really suffering, even though I water it faithfully every day. Sometimes I water in the morning; but if I'm too busy, it has to wait till evening. The poor cucumbers look about dead during the hottest part of the day. But as soon as the sun starts to go down, they perk right up. The sun and heat are obviously quite stressful to plants.

I can sympathize with stress. My life has been marked with it almost from the start. Not as much as many, I'm sure. But I've had my share. A father with anger issues, a congenital deformity, an abusive husband on drugs, divorce, depression, cancer and deaths in the family, career loss, poverty-level living, and being a caregiver for a spouse with brain injury and dementia.

Fortunately though, I've had a God to keep me "watered" morning, noon, and night. I've needed it.  He's blessed me with a husband to love, a faithful daughter, son-in-law, and nephew to support me, and two adorable granddaughters to charm and entertain me. Let alone a house I'm in the process of owning, a car given to me by my father, and plenty of clothes and food. As a matter of fact, my watering cup runneth over. I'm perking right up like a cucumber, just thinking about the blessings. Who cares about stresses, when God blesses!

How Not to Grow

Weeds have a habit of choking the life out of our most-loved plants. When the unwanted roots wrap around our "babies", we aren't as conscious of the damage. But when weed vines above ground start wrapping around the plant itself, we must take action and rid them of their attacker.

One of our pepper plants succumbed today, not to a weed vine, but to a "fellow" vegetable cucumber in the next row. We waited too long to rescue it from the choking tendrils, and I fear with the above-normal hot temperatures today it may not survive or will be severely stunted in growth.

As gardeners of our souls, we must be constantly on the lookout for weeds. Those nasty habits and character traits that don't belong in our life. But we also have to be aware of the good and wholesome things that identify us. We can become so absorbed in them that they cause us to be unbalanced and stunted in our spiritual growth too.

As a gardener, we're learning to pull the weeds and to train the vines. Neglect of either can have the same result. Limited growth.

Spring in Heaven

I wouldn't have thought that my nephew from Florida, where they enjoy greenery and tropical trees all year round, would be so excited about a simple vegetable garden here in Nebraska. After his first winter back up North, he has really been thrilled to work with the soil and witness the growth of tiny seeds and plants that he labored so hard to get started.

I think the seasonal changes we experience here make us appreciate the growth and colors of plants so much more. The harshness of winter weather only enhances the spring fever that captivates so many of us. Our salad with dinner tonight tasted so much better with the radishes that we grew ourselves in our very own yard.

Gardening seems to make us feel closer to God, because without His sunshine and rain, nothing would grow. We are partners with Him in a sense. But another reason I think people in general get so much more excited about gardens here in the North is that it follows a long period of cold, unpleasant weather and nature all around us wakes up and becomes green with life again.

It will be the same feeling when we get to heaven. We'll enjoy it all the more because of the hardships endured here on earth during our lifetimes. It will be like entering the most beautiful springtime, multiplied by infinity. I can't wait to wake up in the springtime of heaven and warm up to His love firsthand.

How High Are Your Tomatoes?

I was lamenting the fact that we didn't get our garden in sooner after seeing some of the harvested vegetables some of our friends are already enjoying. Isn't it a risk to plant before the last predicted frost date though? I guess some daring folks like to get a head start, and now I see the benefits of early-bird gardening. We could have started a month earlier too and already be having fresh, homegrown food on OUR table!

Then I also saw that some friends are just now getting their gardens in. Believe it or not, it's not too late to get in on the planting frenzy. I'm assuming they will have a bountiful harvest also, but will just have to wait longer for that first flavor-oozing morsel.

Whether you plant early or late, the final result is much the same. Although I have to admit that those early-birds are probably such conscientious gardeners that I'm sure they are guaranteed a premium crop. Besides, their garden won't have to battle the full heat of summer.

We are all gardeners when it comes to life actually. We are sowing character seeds every day that will bear fruit--for good or evil. The later you start sowing the good seeds, the harder you will have to battle the weeds and the heat. But it is possible to overcome those obstacles and still have a bountiful garden at any stage of your life.

The common question we are all asking this time of year:
How high are YOUR tomatoes?

Hobbies in Heaven

Tonight I gave my husband free rein in the kitchen to make some milk/egg gravy for our mashed potatoes for supper. That was one culinary skill I was hoping would come back to life for him...and it did. We had some delicious gravy to go with our mashed potatoes and succotash.

Then I got close to the garden this evening. It was just dry enough for some tilling before the watering. I couldn't resist the urge to grab the garden "fork" and start turning soil. Of course, with shortness of breath, it didn't last long. But it felt good to be a part of the garden gang for a short while.

Its so satisfying to do familiar tasks that we enjoy. The thought occurred to me that surely in heaven we will be permitted to pursue some of our interests and beloved hobbies that we have enjoyed here on earth. Even those we have "outgrown" in our old age.

All the more reason to maintain activities now that are in harmony with God's principles and ideals. Could Jesus sit next to you with your entertainment of choice?

Garden In

Today was garden planting day. My nephew didn't have to go to his job today, so guess what--it was the perfect day to be out there breaking up soil and getting the garden in. It was partly cloudy, in the 70s, with rain in the forecast tonight. Perfect time to get it done.

There are so many spiritual illustrations and real life applications when it comes to a garden, that I hardly know which one to pursue. Perhaps my nephew expressed it best though when he was all done planting and said, "Well, it's up to God now, Aunt Teresa." I think we all recognize that without God nothing good would be happening in our lives.

Our work, hard as it may be, is worthless without God's blessing. No vegetables are sweeter than those we've partnered with God to produce.

Gardener of the Universe

So, being the gardener in residence, it appears that my duties will be watering detail. It's the least labor-intensive, but at the same time the most time-intensive position on the family gardening team. It will be nice though because I will have a day-to-day eyeball on plant growth that the others won't have. Unfortunately, this will include watching the weeds grow, but that's where the other gardeners will have their input. I hope.

I'm looking forward to seeing our garden grow, when it gets planted that is. And reaping the fresh salad fixings it will provide somewhere down the line. There are many benefits of gardening, including the physical exercise it gives us and the joy of seeing our garden unfold its beauty before us.

This must be how the Lord felt when He was planning the Garden of Eden. There was intense anticipation in watching our earth and its inhabitants blossom before His eyes. Even before the actual "planting" time, I'm sure He was planning and preparing just what was needed to make it all unfold in the best possible way for the entire universe.

It may look like the weeds have taken over on this planet by now, but the Gardener of the Universe has a plan to eradicate those weeds in a manner that will cause them to never come back. We must trust that He knows the best methods and will utilize them in a way that will astound even the angels. We love Him, because He first loved us. Even before we were "planted". And now, it's love that will make us grow in and for Him.

Flowers on Easter

I can't think of a better Easter activity than planting begonias in the backyard with your family. It was a great deal of fun, watching a three-year-old work with her mommy and daddy to get the six bulbs in the ground. I stood by with a camera to document the event.

Little sister missed out on the fun, as she opted out for a nap on the couch while they labored. But we will all join in the fun as we watch these bulbs grow and flower in the coming days and weeks.

I can see why God chose working with the land as one of the first occupations for mankind. It consists of God and man working side by side, and is full of miraculous births and rebirths of plant life. No wonder Jesus drew from nature so much in His parables. We can learn so much from all that God has created. But you don't have to be a farmer to reap these benefits. Growing a single houseplant can be just as satisfying. Try it and see.