I was having a \u201csunset moment\u201d one Sunday night, a discouraged feeling I get sometimes after a long week at work.<\/p>\n
Standing on my patio, gazing up at the sky as the sun went down, I wondered if my being here made any difference at all. God had so much to worry about. How could he find time for me?<\/p>\n
Later I heard an odd knocking on my door. A neighbor I\u2019d nodded to in passing stood there, holding something carefully. \u201cI had to knock with my elbow,\u201d she said. \u201cHave some cherry tomatoes? I have plenty to share.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you!\u201d Surprised, I opened my hands to receive the bounty: six golf-ball-sized red pearls. \u201cHow big a crop did you have?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI got twelve.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwelve?\u201d I said. \u201cTwelve plants?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwelve tomatoes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t give me half your crop! Come inside, please.<\/p>\n
We sat in my kitchen. She said softly, \u201cAfter my husband passed away, I began to wonder if God cared about me. To keep myself busy, I started some tomato plants on the patio. Bugs got about a dozen and I killed a few more by overwatering them\u2026Then I realized it didn\u2019t matter if I had only one plant left. I tended that plant and watered it carefully. It dawned on me then that no matter how small and alone I felt, God was always there, nurturing me.\u201d<\/p>\n
My jaw must\u2019ve dropped, for my neighbor said, \u201cI know that sounds strange\u2026but I just wanted you to have them. A gift from me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thank you, God, for the times you make yourself known in my loneliness and for the gift of your care.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I was having a \u201csunset moment\u201d one Sunday night, a discouraged feeling I get sometimes after a long week at work. Standing on my patio, gazing up at the sky as the sun went down, I wondered if my being here made any difference at all. God had so much to worry about. How could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26868,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[294],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[678],"class_list":["post-16349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-devotions-for-inspiration"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n