Learning from Tomatoes

I've been dabbling with farming.  It's somewhat addicting.  I just love watching the seed sprout only a week from planting them into a pod.  It feels very productive.  And when the plant starts to bear fruit - it is just exciting.  I feel like they are my babies and they make me proud.

from my rooftop garden in Sinajana, Guam

I learned a lot from the numerous failed attempts.  In my attempt to learn more about plants - Home Depot has become the place to go - and I have discovered that I can learn anything from the Google.  I learned that some plants don't like a lot of direct sunlight and some do.  I learned that some like a lot of water and some don't.  I learned that the right amount of fertilizer is necessary and that it should not touch the stem of the plant.  I grow mostly tomatoes, and I've also learned that this plant need constant pruning from "suckers".

Suckers develop in the joint of a branch and the main vine.  They don't bear any fruit but they do take up a lot of energy and nutrient from the rest of the plant.  Some farmers believe that by removing the suckers - the branch will have better opportunity to bear a lot of big, healthy, sweet fruit.

From Buena Vista Entertainment

Strangely enough, this lesson on farming reminded me of one of my favorite movies - Dead Poet Society.  It's about a group of young men in an all-boys prep school.  Their lives were scripted to follow in the footsteps of their father - lawyers, doctors, and accountants.  But then came Mr. Keaton, a literature teacher played by Robin Williams.  He challenged them to "seize the day" (Carpe Diem) and to make their lives extraordinary.   He tells them to suck the marrow out of life - to live every moment and make it special.  However, one of the heroes (Neil Perry played by Robert Sean Leonard) in the story struggled with this and could not find the courage to tell his father that he wanted to live his life as a writer.  He eventually kills himself.  With this tragic ending, the young men learned to see life in with a new perspective and in doing so, found the courage to become extraordinary.

What does this have to do with the tomatoes I started this blog with?  Well, like the tomato plants, we need to prune the suckers that take up all our energy.  Jesus said, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit (the suckers), while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."  These suckers can be anything that detracts us from really plugging ourselves into the Vine (Jesus Christ) - anything that prevents us from putting God first.  This can be relationships, material things, bad habits, addictions, gossip, unforgiveness.  These suckers will prevent us from experiencing the abundant life that is promised to us when we hang on to Jesus.  Jesus also said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."  Neil Perry had nothing to hang on to when his father took his dreams away.  He felt stuck and life sucked the marrow out of him.  But we have Jesus to hang on to - He is the true source of everything we need to be successful (or fruitful).  All we have to do is plug ourselves into the True Vine - make sure nothing gets in our way - especially those Suckers.





UPDATE:
Helen's running status:  50 minutes - walking/running 3.5 miles.  Have been able to run 6 minutes straight before going back to walking.
Have lost 3 pounds since starting my workout two weeks ago.