Scripture: “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing” (John 15:5 MSG).\

 My mother could raise tomatoes by the acre. As a child, I helped plant, weed, pick, and preserve them. Why should I not follow in her footsteps and raise some in my own yard?

When I married and moved to South Texas, the area in back of our house seemed perfect for a nice garden. After my husband tilled it and helped prepare it, the black, rich soil crumbled in my hands. We purchased a dozen plants at the local home improvement store and put them out, patting the dirt around their roots and admonishing them to grow.

They did. Big, healthy bushes. But never a flower—not one. In frustration, I cornered my brother-in-law who lived next door. “Sonny, your garden’s producing and mine is not. What is my problem?”

“Too much shade,” he answered. “Tomatoes need full sun.” That wasn’t a problem my mother ever encountered in the Oklahoma Panhandle. No shade there at all!

The next year I planned a different strategy. I would plant them in the flower beds in front of the house. If zinnias would grow there, why not vegetables?

The same thing happened. Big green bushes, but no fruit.

Then one day Sonny called me. “Joanne, you need to go pick those tomatoes. They’ll rot on the vine.”

“B-b-but—“

“I can see them from the road. Go pick them.” He hung up.

I went outside to look. Sure enough, several red, ripe beauties were nestled in the leaves. Astounded, I started to pick them, only to find not one was attached.

I will never forget the astonishment I felt or the laughter that bubbled up when I realized my prankster brother-in-law had “salted” the vines.

Prayer: Father, help me live in the full Son-shine, necessary for me to bear the fruit of Your Spirit.