My Backyard Tomatoes

I cook. This is not news if you know me well. Anyway, that is besides the point. Sometime back, I went outside the kitchen to pour away some dirty water and I found this beauty sitting pretty just outside the kitchen. It occurred to me that it must have grown out of the kind of water I was about to throw away again. I remembered how annoyed my dad was when the land he paid for to be cemented began to crack. The portion behind the kitchen is gradually becoming sand again. I also remembered one of our Bible study sessions where Bro Tayo emphasized on how God can teach you a lesson through something as regular as a light bulb. 

So here are the seven lessons I learnt from my backyard tomatoes.

1. Effort is not always equal to results: I put zero effort into planting these tomatoes. In fact, I do not remember planting them at all. As a matter of fact, the ones I deliberately planted did not grow.

2. Expectations hurt: The tomatoes I planted hurt my feelings. I nurtured them so well so I expected them to grow. So in life, never expect anything from anyone. Never have a sense of entitlement too.

3. Good deeds are like seeds: Be a good person for no reason, be nice for no reason, show love for no reason, be calm even in the worst scenarios, find a sense of humor even when it is a hard knock life. There are times the very little things you do bloom into fantastic things that you did not envisage. Good deeds are like seeds and you will surely harvest bountifully in due season.

4.When good things go bad, it is most likely for better things to fall in place: Farfetched as it may sound, these tomatoes naturally would not grow on concrete, so if that man hadn't defrauded my dad, my tomatoes would not grow.

5. Just like Jesus came out of Nazareth, something good can always come out of things that we humans think lowly of: I threw away the water containing what metamorphosed into these tomatoes because I presumed it was useless and nothing good could come out of it.

6. God is mindful of you and you will survive against all odds: Naturally, nothing would grow where my backyard tomatoes are. It's a miracle they even survived cos cars pass through that place every other day and bulk cooking is done around it every now and then. Imagine the heat!

7. The last but most important thing I learnt is that TIME IS EVERYTHING: I remember what I heard vividly was "Bí tòmátò yìí șe rí báyìí, șóo lè ka kóo máa jęè?" (Can you pluck these tomatoes as they are and begin to eat?).

I know you have heard this a million and one times already but I would reiterate that God's time is the absolute best. Trust your process and praise Him in advance. Avoid comparison, it is the shortest shortcut to depression. Do not be in haste to be or have anything.

Do not run faster than your slippers. Do not eat your tomatoes while they are green.

May we not dig dry lands for water.

Thank you for listening to (reading) my TedTalk. Till I come your way again, I remain Damz!

By the way, I wonder why you've not patronized me @idiarokitchen o. I need more tomatoes in my backyard

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