Resilient like a Plant

Temperatures in Tennessee have dropped this week. It's glorious! But it also means it's finally the end of gardening for this year. 
All I've been picking the last few weeks has been tomatoes and okra. And a few peppers. The green beans, squash, cucumbers, and other veggies had already given up over a month ago.
But, as I glanced at the greenery popping up amid my composting, I had to laugh.

You see, I take all my peelings, pieces of fruit or veggies that aren't good, eggs shells, coffee grounds, etc, and I dump them back into the garden. It doesn't make it look great. And sometimes it stinks, but all those nutrients are going to go back into the dirt and be there for whatever we plant next year. So, why not?
This summer, I've put up a lot of tomatoes. We make salsa and spaghetti sauce along with eating them. All all the seeds that slip out while I'm peeling them go into the compost bucket and then back into the garden. Where they do what you see above.
That's right. I have tons of baby tomato plants right now. In October. Just as it's about to get cold.
It's almost sad, seeing those plants coming up and knowing nothing will actually come of them. If you look below, you'll see I have what looks like another green bean plant and maybe a cucumber coming up right now too.
Plants are so resilient. They dig their roots down deep and can grow in places that it looks like nothing can. All they need is sun and water and the right temperatures. And I love that I can see so many lessons from them. Is it any wonder Jesus used plants and farming so often in his lessons? Not only where the people listening used to that, but it's easy to see the applications.
These plants coming up in my garden weren't planted (on purpose). They weren't supposed to be there. They came from the unwanted/unusable parts in my kitchen. But you know what?
Just because we think something is only good for throwing out, it doesn't mean something good can't still come of it? When I'm thinking some of my writing is just plain awful, it doesn't mean it can't be shaped into something better? When we're feeling like we're worth nothing and can't do anything right, it doesn't mean it's true. Maybe we just need some dirt and sun and water. ;)
I won't get any veggies from these volunteer plants. But that doesn't mean I can't get anything from them. What about you? Is there something you feel isn't worth anything? Look at it again. You might be surprised!