The Parable of the Microwave Sweet Potato

Once upon a time, there were two sweet potatoes.

Their fate seemed certain.

They had been purchased, already wrapped in plastic and labeled Microwave Ready. Tossed into the RV pantry before we left home. They would become dinner. 6 – 8 minutes in the microwave, a little butter, maybe some cinnamon, and that would be the end of their story.

While we had been worrying about engines, towing companies, repair estimates, and what to do next, the sweet potatoes had been quietly doing what sweet potatoes do in the dark.

They started reproducing.

What looked like neglect was, to them, opportunity.

The very thing that had spared them from becoming dinner had given them the chance to become something entirely different. Instead of feeding us for one evening, they now have the potential to be planted and grow pounds of sweet potatoes.

One meal becomes many.

It struck me as a sort of loaves and fishes moment. The multiplication of blessing in the face of disaster.

We map out the route.

We label things “microwave ready.”

Sometimes life still leaves us sitting on the side of a Texas highway wondering what just happened.

Those sweet potatoes never fulfilled the purpose for which they were purchased.

Instead, they found a better purpose.

Not every interrupted plan is a failed plan.

Those two sweet potatoes were destined for a microwave.

Instead, they’re headed for the garden.

They went into grow-bags today.

And if all goes well, they’ll feature at our family Thanksgiving this year as “those Sweet Potatoes”.

Tomorrow the adventure continues.