Growing Season

John 15:1-10 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.”

My backyard gardening has been downsized for the season. I wasn’t able to get my raised bed ready this past fall for spring planting so, to make the best of it, I decided to let it go fallow this season. Apparently the weeds didn’t get the memo; they are thriving in abundance where squash should be!

I could not just let this time go by without growing something so I settled on a patio tomato plant on the front deck. It is caged and tied up in a corner of the deck where it is protected from some of the 23 hours of daylight savings sun but nothing can protect it from the wind. Typically, my tomato bed has been in the back alongside the house where it had maximum wind protection. This year my lone plant is either going to make it or not against the wind. The Pro’s for the deck site are that I haven’t had any issues with insects (said in a whisper so they do not hear) and, surprisingly, none from birds. My deck is level with the tree tops nearby so the tomatoes are eye level for the birds. The Con’s…well, the wind. There isn’t any protection from it at all on the deck.

 
I said all that to say this, my little tomato plant looks pitiful. She has tomatoes and they are getting bigger everyday but the actual plant shows the wear and tear of life on the deck. I think we can take a lesson from that plant. I, too, often feel beat-up by the harsh winds of life and circumstance. We all go through our seasons of adversity and, like summer heat in Texas; some of those seasons seem to drag on forever! Yet, for every withered and broken branch, new growth is sprouting from the joint at the vine and good fruit is maturing. New tiny tomatoes can be found showing promise for the future. Life goes on in its determined desire for survival against the odds. That tomato is only doing what plants do; it is blooming where it is planted and bearing good fruit. 

That’s the lesson…we, too, can stand up to our circumstances, beaten though we may be, to grow and bear good fruit because and only because we are the branches, Jesus our Vine and God the Gardener. Happy Growing Season to us all.