Meet Sweet (Potato) Adelaide

Whoa! That was my reaction when our garden-growing friend stopped by and rolled this monster sweet potato out of a plastic bag.  That’s a one-foot ruler next to it. Something this amazing needed a name. I decided on Adelaide, as in “Sweet Adelaide.” (The name is German for “noble, kind.”) A week or so later, I decided to bake it.  I’m glad I started early, as it took three hours at 350 degrees before I could easily poke a knife into it, telling me it was “done.” I wondered if it thought it was a turkey!

If sweet potatoes could talk, it probably would have said, “Ouch, this is hot!  Get me out of here! My original hardened condition can’t stand the heat!” And isn’t that how we react to spiritual fires?

Early in my Christian walk I struggled with James 1:2-4.  Being a Christian should shield you from all of life’s bad things, right?  Wrong.

Count it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

If we lived in a fairy-tale world, where dashing princes come and rescue beautiful captive lasses to take them off to marriage and a grand castle, we wouldn’t need this verse. But we live in a fallen world that is waiting for its Prince of Peace, who is preparing us for the ultimate joy of life forever with Him.  In the meantime, the sin nature needs some “cooking,” as it were, to break down the mean and demanding fibers of the sin-character that won’t work in His kingdom

James wasn’t the only one to share this advice:
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the spirit of glory and of God rests on you. (1 Peter 4:13-14 emphasis added)
The words I bold-faced were a “wow” for me because they helped me recognize that Satan’s tools include negative talk or bullying from someone.  Count that joy? Yes, with Jesus, all things are possible.

In the meantime, anybody for a serving of tender Adelaide? Fully cooked, it’s a great source of healthy vitamins.