One day, standing in my kitchen with a handful of overripe tomatoes, I thought, Why not? Instead of tossing them away, I took them to a small patch of soil and left them there. I had recently read that if you cut a tomato in half and place it on top of the soil, it could grow into a full tomato plant. The idea felt both simple and magical—so I gave it a try.
Weeks passed. Then months. And absolutely nothing happened.
Eventually, I concluded that the whole thing must’ve been a lie. Disappointed, I decided to repurpose the pots and prepare the soil for something new. After all, I occasionally enjoy gardening—especially when I’m not too busy or bored.
But here’s where the story took a turn.
About a week after I had mentally moved on and physically stirred the soil, something incredible happened—tiny green shoots began to emerge. At first, I didn’t think much of it. After all, things grow all the time on unattended soil. Weeds. Random shoots. Leftovers from past seasons. But something about these sprouts made me pause.
So, I decided to let them be. To my surprise, they turned out to be tomato plants—growing steadily, silently, and miraculously from what I had long forgotten.
The wait began again.
This time, it felt even harder. The plants took forever to bear any fruit. Some didn’t produce anything at all. I researched, I worried, and I waited. I doubted. I nearly gave up. But then—months later—it happened. The green gave way to red, and there they were: real, ripe, juicy tomatoes.
I nearly cried.
I’ve never experienced anything like it before—turning discarded, lifeless tomatoes into a whole harvest of new fruit. Not just one. A lot. A miracle born from something I was ready to give up on.
So, what did I learn?
Time is powerful. Sometimes we plant things—dreams, seeds, intentions—and when nothing happens right away, we assume it didn’t work. We walk away. We prepare the soil for something else. But that doesn’t mean the seed isn’t still alive, deep in the dark, doing the quiet work of becoming something new.
If you're in a waiting season, remember: just because nothing seems to be happening doesn't mean nothing is happening. Growth can be invisible until it's undeniable.
Give time its time.
