Ok I'm sure you are thinking HOW is she going to weave God in to tomatoes and peppers, right? Well these are actually the third and fourth box of tomatoes from my brother in laws garden. Needless to say, I'm up to my ears in tomatoes. When this picture was taken I had already made, tons of spaghetti sauce and salsa to freeze. Since this picture was taken I've actually processed another one of the boxes of tomatoes......so anyway...how does this relate to God?
Well, while you are hot bath, cold bath, peeling and deseeding you have a lot of time to think. I actually played JOY FM in the kitchen while I worked which I think helped me keep calm and not dissolve into tears after tomato number 235. And that's not even mentioning the peppers....
Quite honestly though after day three of working with produce a calm settled over me and I started pondering the bounty of the earth. The simple ways that God provides for us. Oh tomatoes and peppers don't pay the bills but I sometimes think a "back to the basics" approach to life might de-stress a lot of people. I started to "value" that produce.
There was something "basic" about putting away food for winter, harvesting the blessings God bestowed on us, and just feeling the "realness" of food without additives and preservatives. It felt "real", it felt honest, it felt "core" somehow. It made me realize if we could just somehow wipe away all the "mankind" stuff, all the busyness of a world gone mad then perhaps we could hear God's whispers a little easier.
Sometimes I wasn't even listening to the music on the radio but somehow the messages of the songs found their way into my brain, between the tomato seeds and the juice on the floor, the joyous words of God's love played into my mind, heart, and soul. Thank you God for tomatoes and peppers, making me slow down and recognize the "realness" of the earths bounty.
Hugs to all, may your life be filled with tomatoes and peppers.
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