What Did I Say? Hang on to Hope!

This morning, I was reminded again to never give up hope.  There is always hope, even when we think not!  Here’s the story.

My sister gave me a tomato plant around Memorial Day.  I don’t have room for a garden but decided I would plant it in a pot on the porch with a southern exposure.  I watered the plant every morning and every night.  The little green plant stabilized and grew and grew.  It grew so much that I tied a small stake to the plant to keep it upright.  I continued to nurture, and the plant responded well.  It thrived even more and required a taller, stronger stake.

I was so excited when I saw the first bloom because I knew that from this bloom, a tomato would come forth.  I continued my religious watering twice daily hoping to see a little tomato take the place of the bloom.  But instead of a tomato, one by one, the blooms fell.  I tried to ignore it at first and thought each one was an isolated case.  But after a couple more weeks, I knew my eyes were not deceived.  All of the blooms fell in their own time.  None of them produced a tomato.

It has been a brutal summer, hot and dry; I don’t have a green thumb; and perhaps the pot and soil weren’t good enough.  I gave up hope, stopped watering, and accepted some home-grown tomatoes from a friend.  They were delicious.  Two weeks went by and I didn’t give a thought to my plant.  The drought remained, 100+ degree temps.  Another weekend was here, and it seemed the right time to throw the plant into the weed-filled pasture.  Yes, the remaining leaves were dry, brown, and shriveled. 

But wait a minute, someone called me “Miss Impatient.”  Looky here, looky here. Do you see what I see?  I could hardly believe my eyes.

I gave up hope, but the plant didn’t.  This reminds me of one of my favorite books, Some of My Best Friends are Trees by Joanne Marxhausen.  This children’s book was given to one of my sons as a birthday present over twenty years ago.  The boys outgrew it, but I kept it for myself.  Over and over again, it has taught me, and continues to remind me, to hope.  No single thing has instilled this within my soul more than this book meant for a child.

My pictures today would fit well in that book because when all looked hopeless, it was not.  Indeed, there is still hope.