In Spring 2023, Dave Franti gave me a tomato plant. It was one of those prepared discs that you put in a pot and let it grow. Dave had planted it already and gave me the pot with it ready to grow and thrive – which it did. I had two types of bite-sized tomatoes for the whole summer.

When fall arrived, there were still green tomatoes on the plants and I didn’t want them to freeze with early frosts, so I moved the plant into the house near a south-facing window. Those last tomatoes ripened, and the plant continued to thrive. Much to my surprise, it grew throughout the winter. It became pretty “leggy” as it reached for the sun, but it continued to grow. In February, as the sun rose higher in the sky and stayed out for longer, new shoots started to develop. I cut back the leggy shoots and let it keep growing.

In March, it started to flower! Okay, I thought, let’s see where this goes. It was situated in front of a heating vent, and apparently the “wind” from that vent was strong enough to pollinate the flowers. When April and May arrived, I had green tomatoes and the first one ripened in early June. It was just as marvelous as those I had enjoyed the year before, so I put the plant back outside for the 2024 growing season.

Rinse and repeat – as the saying goes. Last fall the plant came back into the house as the last tomatoes ripened, and it grew throughout the winter again. It again blossomed in March, and the first tomatoes ripened in early June. It’s back outside for its third growing season. I now call it the “everlasting” tomato plant.

Every seasoned farmer I have told this story to has replied with, “I’ve never heard of anything like that.” I’m enjoying God’s sense of humor and the coincidences that bought about the everlasting tomatoes. And I’m pondering the lessons that I have learned from this farming adventure.

Sometimes people wind up in places or situations that they did not expect, and they wind up blossoming and flourishing in ways that they also did not expect. They found a hidden gift they didn’t realize they had. They discovered talents that they’d never had the opportunity to use. They and those around them were amazed at how God’s grace showed up in new ways in their lives.

God’s everlasting grace has given me the gift of fresh tomatoes almost year-round. God’s everlasting grace has also given me the blessings of talented people who share their gifts, even and especially in circumstances and ways that they did not expect.

What hidden gifts of grace have you received in your life? What places or situations have you been avoiding – that might be places where God can share your blessings in new and exciting ways? Where is God nudging you to bloom where you are planted and to bear fruit through the gift of God’s grace?

Shalom,
Pastor Kay