Tuesday, July 12, 2011

#207 Clearly Mislabeled

This spring, we decided to uproot our perennial garden and replace it with a vegetable garden. Because there ain't a thing more scrumptious than a homegrown tomato, we planted four of them. Not four tomatoes... four tomato plants. Our mouths have been watering as we've anticipated the late August harvest of those beauties.

My man and I are not seasoned gardeners. In other words, we're part of the group known as "the-growing-our- own- food challenged."  We didn't do too badly with the Romaine lettuce. We got a small, but good crop, and have just a little left over for one more salad. Now we're watching cucumber plants spreading on the ground, green beans that are getting big enough to pull, and small buds of sweet peppers and strawberries starting to appear.

But it's those tomatoes that have had us stumped. The plants just keep getting bigger and bigger, and there are literally a hundred small tomatoes on those branches. We've been wondering how they will ever grow when they're so close to one another. Picture us. Dumb and Dumber, standing with our mouths agape, wowing at all the tiny tomatoes that we just know will turn into big ole ones any day now. I have already been planning to have a tomato sale on my front lawn, because we will never be able to eat them all. 

Those plants have been expanding. I mean they have been growing up AND out. These greens were taking over the rest of the garden. 

 

The label on the plants that we bought in May said, "Early Girl Tomato".
This is a picture of a full size "Early Girl":


This morning I knelt down and took a good look on the inside of all that foliage and this is what I found:



No "Early Girls" here! These were cherry tomatoes! Those four plants had been clearly mislabeled.


The moral of the story is....

No matter how badly I want those cherry tomatoes to be full sized, succulent, "Early Girl" beauties, they never will be, because that is not what they were created to be. They may have a sign on them that says, "Early Girl", but they were "cherry tomatoes" that someone put the wrong label on. They have been, they are, and they will forever be, what they were created to be.

Maybe someone has mislabeled you and called you by the wrong name. They have unrealistic expectations of who they would like you to be. They put the wrong label on you because of things that you have done in the past. They give you another name because of the circumstances that you find yourself in. 

They call you by that name to your face. They whisper it behind your back.

The good news is, no matter how badly they want you to be the person they expect you to be, and no matter how badly they want their labels to define you, you will never be those things because that is not who God created you to be.

You have been, you are, and you will forever be loved, chosen, valued, and highly esteemed in the eyes of your Heavenly Father.

You have been, you are, and you will forever be forgiven, free, changed, and redeemed by your Savior.

You have been, you are, and you will forever be beautiful, precious,  beloved,  and cherished by God.

You are His darling, His dearest, His pet, and His treasure.

You are worth a King's ransom. You are worth your weight in the precious blood of God's own Son.


You have been clearly mislabeled!

 

I'm linking at

friday favorite things | finding joy


21 comments:

  1. Love those cherry tomatoes -- and I chuckle at you and your husband watching and watching and waiting for them to grow.

    Beautiful analogy as well.

    Rachel

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  2. Wow...such powerful truths. Beautifully articulated and so inspirational. Thanks for linking up with 'Inspire me'.

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  3. Beautiful! I love your list of who we are in God, treasured, valued, etc. I need reminders of this regularly since mislabeling occurs regularly! :)
    And, I must say, this is the first time I've visited your blog-- and I absolutely love the picture above of the woman touching Jesus' feet.

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  4. I have done this before too. My plans for tomato sauce didn't quite go as planned. Thanks for the analogy.

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  5. Names are so important!
    Living up to them is too.
    "Christian" is the loveliest of all.
    Praise God, He is our enabling to be who we are meant to be in Him!
    Thank you for linking to LACE again.
    Have a blessed day in Jesus..Trish

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  6. Well written and so true. This world loves to mislabel us! Blessings, Debbie

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  7. I love cherry tomatoes -- I can eat them like candy.

    I was just talking to someone Sunday whose father mislabeled him. He's tried to fit in his father's dreams but they didn't fit him. Awesome thought-out post.

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  8. So true. Thanks for sharing this.
    Have a Blessed Day,
    Sherry

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  9. Hi Donna,
    What a wonderful message you have for us today.God really spoke to yot through your 'mis-labled'tomatoes.They should taste all the sweeter for this.
    God Bless
    Barb from Australia

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  10. How wonderful... I skipped over here from Finding Joy and am so glad I did...we look for new signs of life in our garden every day...I love the relief from your post... it's true, I have to be nothing but what God created me to be and that is such a beautiful freeing thing.
    Happy Friday

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  11. You KNOW I love this post. Every time I read it am blessed again. It reminds me of the story of Puncinello (I think by Max Lucado) and how he was labeling himself and then when he met his creator he was told that those labels shouldn't stick.

    Blessings friend.

    Thank you for linking.

    Rachel

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  12. Great story and like the tie in to accepting who we are versus who people think we should be. Enjoy your cherry tomatoes! :>

    Stopping in from TRDC!

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  13. Not four tomatoes... four tomato plants. Your clarification made me laugh. And you're right, there is NOTHING like a freshly picked juicy tomato right out of the garden.
    Excellent analogy and well written post. Thanks for sharing.

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  14. what a great analogy...I am grateful that God has not mislabeled me!

    joy & blessings,
    Alida

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  15. I love a good metaphor, and this is a great one, Donna! And I sure hope you enjoy your boutiful crop of tomatoes...even though they aren't as large as you originally anticipated!

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  16. Thanks for declaring who we are in God! I am blessed with the way you found a parallel with your garden and how God sees us. Just think next year you will not be Dumb and Dumber! You'll have a whole summer under your belt.

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  17. Such a great analogy! But I have to say...I'm so sorry for those mislabled tomatoes. You are right about the divine from the vine! But the great thing about those cherries is they will keep giving you goodness. So glad you linked to Playdates with God, such a blessing to stop in here.

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  18. This is a story that will stick in my mind--great point and so well told.
    Sad how we let the labels stick instead of truth at times. Appreciated reading truth here!

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  19. Lovely reminder! Sometimes I myself am the one who applies a label and creates expectations different from my Creator's. God bless you.

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  20. I love this post. I've been mislabelled all my life it seems. It is difficult to get out of when it's your own family! But God clearly creates us and he makes us all unique ;-)

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  21. That is funny because the exact same thing happened to us. I thought maybe they didn't get bigger because we planed them in a large pot instead of in the ground. They were clearly cherry tomatoes. And I agree with you. There ain't nothin' as good as a home grown tomato. I like the comparison you made to people.
    Blessings,
    Charlotte

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