New Potatoes: God Sees Things Differently

Contemplating recent changes, Sheri Wohlfert realizes how God brings beauty out of things that look strange to us.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

When I was growing up, we always had a gigantic garden. I loved all the fresh vegetables that came from that garden, but the potatoes were my favorite! Many things in life have changed, but my love for potatoes has not. The first new little ones of the summer were the greatest. If you’ve ever looked at that first batch of new garden potatoes, you’ll notice they are pretty bumpy and dimply and funny looking but they taste so good. Something about waiting so many months for a fresh new batch made them so special.

Potatoes are kind of funny when you think about it. They have to be dug out of the dirt. We spend so much time cleaning things and disinfecting things but during potato harvest you stand there looking into a big hole of dirt thinking, "YUM, these are gonna taste great!" It's sort of weird when you think of it, but it’s really not so different than a lot of things in our life. God is so good at digging down through the muck and mess of our lives and scooping out the good.

I was at the grocery store the other day and saw a whole selection of baby potatoes. They made me think of new potatoes and I finished my shopping thinking about all kinds of things that are new. Some of the new things in my life have been exciting, like that first batch of new potatoes but some of the changes have been lumpy and bumpy. After nearly thirty years on the farm we moved to town.

We’ve been here a month and there are so many things I like about this new address. I love the neighborhood full of kids and families. I love the neighbors who have delivered cookies and plants and the kids who have made pictures for my fridge. I love driving on pavement instead of muddy gravel roads, and I’m so grateful for a new home (that’s completely clean). But I miss the noise of mooing and hummingbirds, and the deer I would watch from my front porch.

School is new! I’m happy to be back face to face with the middle lovelies. There are a lot of things that make teaching this year a new experience but it’s so good to be back. Going to Mass outside on a beach towel and wearing a mask and eating lunch with my teacher family sprinkled many feet apart across the whole cafeteria is all new. Teaching in four different rooms in order to keep the kids safe and healthy in one spot is a very strange new. Not pulling a chair up next to a sad or struggling student or holding hands to pray together is a strange new too.

I’m getting my second shiny new knee this week and I’m grateful for that, but it’s another new thing. Thinking about all this new stuff left me feeling a little old and overwhelmed. Then I remembered those great new potatoes didn’t always look so great, so I thought about God looking into my life (which at the time felt a little like a big ol’ dirty potato hole) and saw things a little differently. I think I was resisting a little, wanting things to stay the same because it was comfortable, but then I saw the beauty in the bumps and dimples.

I began see the beauty in the new. I miss the farm, but it’s a proud and happy thing to realize that Kevin was determined and successful enough to buy the farm. Yes, I will miss Shannon when she moves to Missouri after the wedding, but she will be getting married to a fabulous young man and they will build a wonderful life. Then I began to think of another exciting new. New life: God’s promise that life is meant to move forward and change. In February Jason and Katie are going to have a baby that will bring so much new life and change and joy to our family.

When I see it through His eyes, I don’t see the bumps, dimples, and dirt that come with change and new stuff. God helps me see the growth, the love, and my need for Him.

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God is so good at digging down through the muck and mess of our lives and scooping out the good. #catholicmom

A Seed To Plant: Make a list of new things happening in your life and invite God into those new things. For bonus points, enjoy some potatoes this week!

Blessings on your day!