Hence the title of this post, “Tomatoes and Tears”.
I had an experience, just 2 days ago, in which I was crying; tears streaming down my face, about tomatoes.
Yes, tomatoes.
You see, the availability of fresh, home grown, organic produce for my family, recently changed drastically. Over the last several years, I had many types of fresh organic vegetables readily available to me, all through the summer months. And in the Winter months, because I was involved in
canning of many types, my family could enjoy the healthy vegetables year round.
But, an unforeseen wedge got jabbed really hard into the beautiful arrangement that I had going then, and the engine of that healthy, glorious train, stopped.
This past winter, there I was , left with no canned goods at all. And let me tell you, my whole family missed them tremendously!
Anyway…..how did I get from there to tears…..
Well, the tears come in, this fall…after 3 weeks of begging friends and acquaintances (that had been saying they would have too many tomatoes from their gardens) to share the abundance with me; and being given none. And then, the person that I asked most often, and the person that I am closest too personally, gave her extras to someone else. Right in front of my eyes none the less…in comes the tears….
I guess the level at which my family missed the canned goods, and the yearning, as a mom, to feed my family the best, homegrown produce and foods possible, and having lost the previous opportunity, had brought me to a place of deeper sadness than I had realized…
Well, God intervened…..and today (just 2 days after the teary breakdown) as I type this post, I am admiring, right in front of me, 75 lbs. of beautiful fresh produce, purchased from a local organic farm, waiting for me to can…..And tomorrow I am blessed to pick up 20 more lbs. from one of those loving friends that I had dropped all the hints to…
I wish now, that I would not have let my emotions get the best of me. God provides! Instead of getting emotional and feeling so hurt, I should have simply prayed to God for providence.
He did provide, and in abundance, as God always will! Sometimes it may not be in the way that we think it should happen, but He provides!
Psalm 36:8 (NIV)
They feast on the abundance of Your house; You give them drink from Your river of delights.
“River of delights”….yes! What a beautiful delight the Lord has given me, as I look at these beautiful vegetables and smile! God quickly turned the stream of tears to a river of delight! Click to Tweet
He will provide the same for you too!
Dear Lord,
Help us to remember to rely on your providence. Remind us to pray to you for our ever need and want. For You will provide, when the time is right! Amen.
** Published 1st on "Daughters of the Deep", in Nov. 2017
