Day 46 - You Say TOMATO, I Say DELICIOUS!

Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds. Isaiah 3:10

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Today I added tomatoes to my diet. I love tomatoes. Especially fresh from the garden, bright red and dripping with sun-ripened juiciness.

So I have been inspired and motivated to plant a garden. That would help with all the vegetables I'm now eating, and will likely be eating from now on.

Especially tomatoes! (Which really are technically a fruit.)

The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing. Isaiah 51: 3

 

It's been a long time since I've planted a garden. I used to plant tomato sets each year, choosing big beefsteaks for sandwich toppers and small pop-in-your-mouth cherry and grape varieties for juicy little bites of summertime.

Then life turned upside down with my husband's death and I had no desire to plant anything. There was no room for the care such new life would need. I was consumed with grief. The following  year, as I started to emerge from mourning, I considered planting tomatoes again, but was too tired, too broken still.

For the following two years, I chose to purchase my tomatoes instead of grow them. My house was on the market, and I did not want to spend the time and energy in growing tomatoes, only to have the house sell and leave them behind.

Ah yes, I know it was only an excuse. But I've set aside excuses and reclaimed my home. I've chosen to reclaim my life, and my health. I've made new choices, forward-moving decisions. I've become growth-focused. And what could be more growth-focused than to garden? To nurture something tiny and hidden, and trust that new life, abundance, and blessings will follow?

Right now I've only made the decision. I will share my gardening experiences when they actually come about.

I had a simple meal of bacon and eggs for breakfast. Oh yes, with chopped TOMATOES!

For lunch out with a friend, I chose a chef salad. After picking out the carrots, croutons and cheese (remember, I backed off on that for a bit), I was left with a huge bowl full of greens, turkey, bacon, ham, onions, and TOMATOES!

Dinner had been cooking in the crock pot all afternoon -- roast beef with onions and celery, sided with green beans and TOMATOES!

I had to take my pulse test with each meal, with this new food, checking for negative responses. And I didn't mind the inconvenience at all. Yes, I love tomatoes that much.

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18: 21