Kim Ji-yun
During the time when COVID-19 limited outdoor activities, I decided to take up a small hobby and bought a cherry tomato growing kit. After carefully reading the instructions, I filled a pot with soil and gently planted the seeds. I placed the pot by a sunny window and checked it every day, waiting eagerly for the first sprout.
At last, a tiny shoot appeared. That single little seedling filled me with joy, and I couldn’t resist taking photo after photo. Out of all the seeds I had planted, only one had sprouted, yet it grew strong and healthy, stretching out many branches.
“I’m sure these branches will be heavy with cherry tomatoes soon,” I told myself with excitement.
Day after day, I watered it diligently, even whispering encouragements under my breath: “Grow strong. Bear plenty of fruit.” At last, a tomato appeared on the still branches—just one, about the size of my thumbnail.
The fruit had started out green, but before long, it ripened to a bright, vivid red. I had hoped to harvest a bunch of cherry tomatoes to share with my family, but since only one had grown, I decided to give it to my dad. Since I had been taking photos and proudly showing him the sprouts from the very day I planted the seeds, it felt only right to give him the first one.
That evening, I handed him the tomato.
“Dad, the cherry tomato finally ripened! But there’s only one. I want you do eat it!”
“Wow, it finally bore fruit! And you’re giving me the only one? Are you sure?”
“That’s exactly what makes it special. I grew it with care, so go ahead—try it and tell me how it tastes!”
Dad hesitated for a moment, then ate it in one bite.
“It’s really sweet. Delicious!”
Watching my father’s joyful smile, I couldn’t help but smile as well. Looking back now, I realize that what I truly wanted was simply to share that one precious cherry tomato with him and proudly say it was the fruit of my care. Only he knows how it tasted, but even if it hadn’t been sweet, I’m certain he would have said it was—because he had seen all the effort I put into growing it.
I believe the heart of our Heavenly Father and Mother is much the same. God, who sees every bit of our devotion and effort, rejoices even in the smallest and humblest fruits and treasures the labor behind them. All the more, this makes me want to strive harder to present them with an abundant harvest—fruits that are a hundred, a thousand times greater than the little tomato I once grew.