Thankful for Tiny Tomatoes

Last year we planted cherry tomatoes in the flower garden that borders the front of the house.  This year the Lord gave me a tomato plant in much the same spot as those of last year.

The plant was beautiful and as it grew it was tied up to keep it off the ground and away from my mums.  It was such a beautiful plant that I was going to take a picture of it to send to my son and another friend or two to let them see how the Lord had blessed us.

That afternoon, the cows came.  It was funny when they were in the vegetable garden in the back because the harvest had already been done.  They were munching on the beans and tomato plants that were already dying.  The cow patties they left in the yard did not bother me because my husband goes to the pasture and brings home buckets of the stuff for the garden.

My heart sunk as they made it to the front of the house and happily decimated my irises. They made their way to my tomato plants, my decorative grass and my mums.  They left their payment in the form of huge, round, brown patties.

The only thought that came to mind was, "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away."  All that was left were a few fat green sticks and a tiny branch with a few leaves.

My first thought was to just pull them up and till the soil for next season or some new mums.  I left it as it was.  I was curious to see what would happen next.  The three cows were still on the loose so any new plants could become fodder for bovine never ending appetites..

The cows were eventually corralled and life returned to normal.  It was awhile before I checked on the plants again.  There was no point. They were at the point that growth would take place even if I did not stare at them daily.  There were other things that needed to be done.

I watched the plants with interest as they all came back.  The mums grew back and bloomed.  The grasses grew back and were just as pretty as before.  The tomato plant seemed to grow faster and bigger than the other ravaged plants.

I have done little to help them grow.  They seem to be doing quite well with only the Lord's help.


The weather got cooler, but the plant continued to grow and produce tiny tomatoes.  The cooler temperatures kept them from ripening.  I put cardboard walls around the plant and covered it at night to keep it from getting frosted.  I raked up pine straw and packed it around the inner walls of the cardboard to insulate the plant.  At night I cover the whole thing with a drop cloth.  So far the weather has still been mild enough that my makeshift shelter has been enough to keep them alive and thriving.


It has been about 3 months since the cow invasion.  I checked this morning to see if there were any ripe tomatoes.  I dug around and found 4.  They are quite small.  They are, in fact, tiny, no bigger than my thumb.

They are a gift from the Lord.  One of those tiny gifts, but a gift nonetheless.  I am thankful for this small Blessing.  He has shown me that He cares enough to give me even the smallest desires of my heart.

Common Sense or NONsense

If you want to fly (and it is the most efficient way to get from here to there) you need to be prepared to be exposed to radiation, TSA pat downs and long waits.

Has our government lost touch with reality?  Can we not learn from those who have been under attack since the creation of their country?  Those of you who have read my posts and know where I stand will know the country that I speak of - Israel.

Israel has been under attack since the land grant given by YHWH and again when man once again gave it country status in May 14, 1948 following World War II.  How can one tiny country that is slightly smaller than the state of New Jersey be such a thorn in the side of the entire world?  Scripture tells us that eventually ALL nations will turn against Israel.  All that being said, Israel has survived.

The El Al pilots are all former Air Force Pilots.  They have the latest in defense capabilities built in to their commercial jets; not some but all. 

Each person is screened as soon as they purchase their ticket.  Everyone with a ticket to fly on El Al is treated the same.  Everyone is interviewed by Trained personnel prior to going through the rest of security.  The primary interview segregates each person based upon their answers to questions, their state of mind during the questioning (whether or not they appear nervous or anxious during questioning) and other factors. 

They have no body scanners and do not do pat downs.  If you need further scrutiny, you are sent to others for further questioning and your bags could be searched.  The personnel that search the bags, search everything.  They search each piece of clothing and take everything out of the suitcase.  Luggage is sent through a decompression chamber that replicates the conditions in the baggage compartment on the plane.  So if explosives are susceptible to atmospheric changes, they could be set off.

There are several levels of travelers and once you get through security, you can be sure that everyone has experienced the same scrutiny without having the indignity of someone's hands all over your body or being exposed to unnecessary radiation.

And their trained personnel are rotated out after 3 years in order to avoid them becoming complacent.

Why can we not learn from the professionals?  Are we afraid of being seen as weak because we ask a tiny country for advice?  I think the United States would be smart to follow the leader in airline safety.

It just seems like common sense to learn from someone who has a great deal of experience.  Alas, we have to go with the nonsense of body scans and pat downs by poorly trained or simply tired personnel.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.  If you do not celebrate Thanksgiving, be sure to give thanks for all the Blessings.

3 am on Friday I Will NOT Be Shopping

I was in a store last week and while going down one of the aisles, I saw a garment on the floor.  It was convenient for me to stop and gather it off the floor and hang it on the rack.  I do not do that every time I see something knocked off the rack, but sometimes.

I was unaware that anyone saw me until a store clerk stopped me and said, "Thank you!" 

It startled me just a bit because by that time, my mind was already on to something else.  When the second clerk came up to me and thanked me profusely, it occurred to me that they thought this simple act of picking up something and hanging it back on the rack was somehow noteworthy.

The second woman said that it would be a mad house when the sales started and if I wanted to get something special I would have to get in line for a ticket and then I would be able to get just that one item.

There is nothing that I need so badly that I find it necessary to live on the sidewalk for days or even hours before the big sale just to get a hundred dollar item for a nickel.  This insanity is a symptom of our warped perspective of what is truly important.

I went to one sunrise sale in 1968 with my mother.  The store opened at 6:00 am and they (the shoppers) rushed through the doors like animals escaping the slaughter, only they were running into the store.  They almost knocked me down. 

Looking around, it appeared as though they were wounded tigers hunting for prey.  I was familiar with some of these women, but the glazed look in their eyes and furtive glances about the store were eerie to say the least.  I never went again.

When the news reports of people trampled in the rush to get into a sale or they show people walking on top of a woman who has been knocked down so hard that her wig falls off, I am truly appalled at what people will do to one another for a dollar.  That is really all it is.  We will willingly trample to death a fellow shopper just to save a dollar. 

If you were asked the question, "Would you be a contract killer?"  or, "Could someone pay you to kill your neighbor?" you would probably say indignantly, "Absolutely NOT!"

No, but you and that hungry mob of shoppers would trample to death and unsuspecting neighbor/friend/shopper for much less than a contract killing.

That is what we do.  That is what materialism does to you. 

When you sit in that church pew on Sunday and revel in the money you saved on junk on Friday that will last only until the next upgrade or fashion trend; when the offering plate is passed, will you put the money you saved where it will do some good?

Once Upon A Time In Nothing

Once upon a time in land long, long, long, long, long, long billions of years ago.  Nothing existed.  Nothing was full of nothing and nothing did nothing all day long because there weren't any days.

Suddenly, somewhere, out of nothing in nowhere a big explosion happened and created all of life.

Makes sense.  Right?  Sure it does.

You get something from nothing.  It's logical, right?

Sure it is.  You came from a rock.  Nothing exploded and became something that was nothing but rocks and gases and a soupy goop and now it is you.

And they say that Creation by God takes faith.  Creation in 6 days in a planned succession of events by a Creator, by God is far more logical than all of the laws of physics becoming unhinged for a moment in time and suddenly come back into existence.

Yeah, that's the ticket.  If you believe that evolution makes sense, then I am sure there is some beach front property in Montana you can buy.  I hear the surf is great this time of year. 

I won't try to convince you that evolution is a scam, a shell game, a party favor at the lunatic's ball, a pipe dream designed to confuse, baffle and befuddle, a Devil's tool meant to lead people away from God.

Evolution requires faith.  Evolution cannot be reproduced.  No one has ever found even 1 missing link.  The Creation story, theory, has remained intact for thousands of years while evolution was contrived as a possible theory just a couple hundred years ago.  It was only when Darwin, misguided by his own erroneous suppositions, came out with his book, "Origin of the Species" that people started jumping on the band wagon to dispute the Bible.  And that is all that it is.  It is a way to try to win people away from God.

It is simply a way to get people to question God.  Nothing more.  It is not the truth just a lie from the Devil.

The Conversation

I do not know how the conversation got started, but sitting at the table in the restaurant, I found myself trying to defend my view of the age of the earth.  The gentleman with whom I was talking was stunned that I actually believed that the earth was created by God and was a relatively young earth.

"But what about all of the evidence supporting billions of years?" 

"I don't believe it."

"But it's true."

"How do you know?"

"Because of all of the scientific evidence."

"How can you be so sure that their research is correct?  There is enough evidence to refute their findings that I cannot believe they are correct in saying that the world is billions of years old."

He laughed at me.  He did not do it as a loud guffaw, but more as a look.  You know that look.  That is the one where the eyes start to roll and are checked in progress and shut instead; where the chest draws that exasperated breath and the head wags left to right ever so slightly.  That is the laugh I speak about.  It is not the laugh that is publicly embarrassing. 

It is the one that says silently, "This person is stupid."

We have all seen it and we've all used it.  Why do we do that?  Mostly to keep from getting into a raging argument when we know we are right.

The problem arises, not during the innocuous dinner conversation with an acquaintance, but when we use this type of thing during arguments, I am sorry, discussions with our spouses.  That is when the conversation turns to suspicion.

"I saw that!"

"What?!"

"That look!"

"What look?!"

"You know what I'm talking about!"

Of course, you know what they are talking about, but you are not about to admit doing it.  Because if you do, there is another rabbit trail to go down with a lot of dead rabbits along the way.  So why do we do it?  Why do we give them that look?

I can think of many reasons, but mainly I think we just get tired of the word war and we want to take a rest from it.  Instead it just escalates.  This might be the time when you should do what all good sports coaches do and call for a time out. 

Before you ever start arguing, have an agreement with your spouse to fight fair.  Have a word or a phrase or a motion that says, "I am tired.  I am afraid that if I continue, I will say or do something stupid that will be hurtful and I do not want to hurt you.  Can we continue this tomorrow at 8:00 pm?"  Or something like that.

Have a white flag on a stick so you can wave it.  Or throw a towel on the floor to show that it is time to let up and continue later when both are rested.  Things look better when you are rested.

Don't go to bed angry and unresolved, but set a time to discuss hot-button issues instead of stewing about them.  It helps.

Hanging Up The Wash

About a year ago, I thought about ways to cut our monthly expenses.  One way was putting up a clothes line and drying the clothes naturally.  Since we live in the country, there is no smog or pollutants to worry about.

I remembered how the whites were bleached by the sun and the clothes smelled fresh and unscented.  I asked my husband to put up a clothes line.   It was months after the request that the line was finally put up.  There is one under the carport for those items that do not need to be sun-bleached or if clouds say rain may be on the way.  There is a second line in the yard for those sheets and large items or when the sun promises to shine all day.

Drying clothes on a line produces a different effect than the automatic dryer.  The clothes have fewer wrinkles and are stiffer to the touch.  Towels do not do as well on the line.  The dryer fluffs them so much better.

There are advantages to hanging jeans and other pants on the line.  Shrinkage is almost nil and they look almost as if they have been ironed.  T-shirts remind me of the time when my mother ironed everything including underwear and bed linens.

Line drying clothes is cost effective and good for the environment.

There was a time when women went to the grocer and they carried their own cloth bag with them.  They used it when walking around the store and when they got to the counter, they emptied their bag and paid for their goods.  They then filled up their bag and took their goods home.  They hung up their bag to be used on their next shopping trip.

Then came paper bags that the grocer had at the checkout counter.  They had carts that women used to gather their purchases and those goods were put in the paper sacks.  The sacks were taken home, folded and used as trash cans as the need arose.  They were used to line bird cages and used for many things that required a stiff piece of brown paper.  Kids colored on them.  They were used as masks and crowns and any number of playful things.

Plastic replaced the paper sacks and some people were irritated with the change.  Plastic bags were supposed to help the environment.  I never really understood how.  At first, there was a choice.  You could choose paper or plastic.  The choice soon faded away and plastic was the only thing available.  People used them as trash can liners, as sacks to carry stuff to parties.  They used them to put their dirty laundry in when they go on a trip and as litter bags in the car and on the bus.

The difference between the plastic and the paper is the paper degrades over time while the plastic that is hung in a tree top by the wind during a storm is still there when the storm comes again.

No matter what they come up with the consumer will find other uses for it.  The plastic tubs of whipped topping, butter and other things are used as storage bowls once the contents are used.  They are used to store leftovers, seeds for next season, sewing items and anything thing that fits and needs a lid.

Humans are a resourceful lot.  We come up for uses of items that are not what the manufacturer intended.

And what goes around comes around.  For the past few years, there have been cloth and net bags manufactured for shoppers to use instead of plastic bags.  I wonder what uses we will find for these new bags, this new idea.

A Bug Flew Up My Nose

At least it was not in a public place.  It was at home in front of the computer.  There was no one to watch me trying to get that thing out of my nose.

It reminded me of how Satan sends little things to trip us up.  The flat tire you get on your way to Church, or the platter of deviled eggs that spills on the way in to the neighbor's home, or the car that cuts you off on your way to work, any of these things can set you up for an ill temper.  They can ruin your day or set you up for failure if you allow it.

What the Devil knows is that when the big things happen, you turn to the Lord for help.  It's the little things that he uses to knock you down and ruin your testimony.  These are the little foxes in the vineyard that rip away at you bit by bit.  You barely notice the first few nips.  It isn't until they start hurting deeply and that pencil lead breaking sends you into tears or into a rage that you finally realize that something is wrong.

There is only one way to insure that these little things do not wear you down and that is to depend upon the Lord in all things, not simply the deaths and job losses, but the toe-stubbers and the hang-nails as well.

If you are close to the Lord always through the small things, you will have less trouble.  He tells us that we must be faithful in the small things before we are entrusted with the larger things.  The parable of those who are given the ruler's money to care for, where one was given one coin and he hid it in the ground giving it neither increase nor decrease.  He was rebuked for his distrust of the Master and lost what he had.

How often do we show our lack of faith and our distrust of The Messiah?  We hold our own opinions and feelings above His Word, above His Promise.

When did you first turn away?  Was it when you did not read His Word that first day after years of faithful reading?  Was it when that Elder's wife first gossiped about you, or was it to you and you listened?

It really does not matter when it was or what happened to cause it.  He has forgiven you.  He died upon the cross to forgive you of that and all the other sins you have committed.  When you accepted Him as Lord and Saviour, He forgave you.  Your sins were washed away by His Supreme Sacrifice on the Cross at Golgatha.  He loves you.  He died for you.  You cannot outdo nor out give The Messiah, Yeshua, The Christ, The Only Begotten Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth.

You can only run back to Him, ask for the Forgiveness that He has already given you and be content with The Lord.  He is The Peace that passes understanding.

Shalom.