Throughout the 2.5 months that I have been on the race, I’ve noticed two commonalities across all of our ministries: the love of Jesus and potatoes. You laugh but I swear, I have never eaten or spent more time peeling, cutting, sorting, salting, or otherwise preparing potatoes to be eaten. If you plan on going on the World Race and you don’t like potatoes, you may not survive South America. I always heard jokes in the US, especially the South, about how people eat only meat and potatoes but I think I’ve eaten more potatoes on this trip than I have in my entire life. And I’m pretty sure I have peeled my body weight 10 times over in potatoes as well. In my mind, there is only one explanation for this abundance of potatoes: Jesus obviously loves potatoes.
I mean, what’s not to love? You can do all sorts of things with potatoes: mash them, fry them, put them in soup, make them into chips, bake them, bake them again, boil them- I’ll stop here so as to not sound like Bubba describing all the different ways to make shrimp in Forrest Gump but you get the picture. Potatoes are very versatile and they are fairly filling. You can eat them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or all three (We’ve done that at least once). Needless to say, I have become very acquainted with potatoes.
(Humor me and use your imagination here to picture me eating spaghetti with potatoes in it. I have said picture but wifi in Cachora is questionable and this is about my 18th attempt at posting this blog so I’d rather not chance it and try to add the picture. Lo siento.)
One of my favorite parts about potatoes is peeling them- and not just because you can have some great conversations with people while peelin’ taters but that is a plus. In month one, I started off pretty terrified that I would slice myself or cut off a finger but I’ve gotten much better and usually there is still a good chunk of potato left when I’m done peeling. I like looking at all the funny shapes of the potatoes. Some are almost perfectly round while others are more oblong and still others are a bit knobby. As I peel them, I imagine that I am sculpting them into the best versions of themselves possible. I can’t help but think that that is what the Lord is doing in all of our lives. He sees us just like potatoes, all different shapes and sizes and all in need of a bit of peeling to become the best versions of ourselves. He helps to cut away the sin that clings to us when the time is right just like I cut away the skin of the potatoes when they are ripe. But, even before the potatoes are ripe, the farmer plants them, tends to them, and eventually harvests them. The same is true with God. He created each of us in our mother’s womb and has been tending to us ever since. When we truly allow God into or lives, he knows that we are ripe for harvest and ready to be peeled.
Some of the potatoes have large, black spots that have to be cut out of them but somehow, we never seem to throw any out completely; there is always a part that is salvageable. God can take out even the darkest and largest blemishes in our lives. This process may be painful and it may mean we are left a little different but in the end, it is for our own good. Just like the potatoes, He can always salvage our lives.
God can see the beauty underneath our sin when no one else can- just like Mama Nena at Ciudad Refugio and Hermana Rina here in Cachora can see the potential for delectable dishes in even the ugliest of potatoes. Even when we are at our worst, God can see the incredible things we are capable of when we are at our best.
So yes, Jesus definitely loves potatoes but He loves each of us a whole lot more.
