Smash

I grow tomatoes for two reasons: bruschetta and home-canned spaghetti sauce.

While Greg and I were picking our latest crop of Romas we discovered a petite tomato smashed between the fence slats. Smashed, but still growing on the vine. After picking him we were both astonished

1. He was shaped like a heart.
2. He was still a success (as far as tomatoes go).

If I were that tomato I could be ticked that splintery cedar planks were poking my smooth red skin from both sides.

Or I could be happy I got to see what was on the other side of the fence. No other tomato from this yard has ever had that view. I'm actually pretty special.

If I were that tomato I might curse my claustrophobia because I was never intended for this life. I was supposed to suspend like a jewel in open air.

Or I could feel safe knowing no grasshopper or pet could gnaw on me thanks to my wooden security.

If I were that tomato I might be lonely. I could convince myself I was intentionally neglected and think really hateful things about the clusters of free-hanging tomatoes chatting it up on other vines.

Or I could make friends with the zucchini leaves because we are currently living at the same exact altitude.

If I were that tomato I might feel ugly. I'm only a centimeter wide. I'm flat. I'm different. I'm a late bloomer. I'm anything but "heirloom."

Or I could look inward and be sure I, too, am full of Vitamin A and seeds. I can still feel the day's rays and hear birds and feel the sprinkler hit parts of me. I ripened like everyone else. In fact, I marvel I am growing too tight for my enclosure.

If I were that tomato I'd have a choice between despair and hope. Heart-shaped tomatoes and humans with smashed hearts have a lot in common.

Choose hope.

It's okay if life is fencing you in. You can still be a smashing success.

 

*My favorite lesson on Hope in the world. I think I've read it 100 times. I always think about the smashed pansy overcoming the brick, which is probably why I thought of hope the second I saw our smashed tomato. My hope is centered in Jesus Christ. Everything He touches lives.