Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.

~Proverbs 19:21 NIV

One spring, I decided it might be fun to add a strawberry plant to my landscaping and see if it would produce any fruit. But I was in for a strawberry plant surprise. 

I picked up a prepackaged plant ready to be planted outside. Soon, it was in the ground right by my back steps so I could water it easily and keep an eye on its growth.

As the weeks passed, the plant grew, blossomed, and became beautiful. But it never produced fruit. Eventually, the flowers died, but the plant continued to grow. It took me a while to realize it must not be a strawberry plant because strawberry season had come and gone. I took a photo of it and sent it to my son, who also has a garden, and inquired what he thought the plant might be.

“Looks like mint,” he answered.

By this time, it was October. I picked a leaf and bit off a piece of it. It didn’t taste like mint. It was beautiful and looked lovely in my landscaping, so I left it alone.

A couple more weeks passed. As I walked outside the house one day, I glanced toward my mysterious strawberry plant and noticed something strange at its base. It looked like a ball. I pulled the leaves back and dusted away some dirt. I’d grown a potato!

Enveloped with the elation of growing a vegetable I never intended to grow, I headed to the garage to find something so I could dig it up. When I pulled the plant out of the ground using a pitchfork, many potatoes appeared. One of them was huge.

I held them up for the security camera on our house in case my husband was watching and showed them off. I couldn’t believe the plant I thought would bear sweet fruit turned out to be something completely different. Although I had pretty much decided it was worthless, it grew something healthy and good, although hidden from sight.

Of course, I ate the potatoes, and they were delicious. However, this experience reminded me of how often we have our own plans. We think what we’re doing will bear the fruit we expect. But it doesn’t. God has other plans – surprising, good plans – that are more exciting than we imagined and ultimately better for us.

God always has our best interests at heart and knows how to use any and everything to draw our attention to His ways. Even some unexpected potatoes.

Don’t be surprised by God’s surprises. His ways are always better.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the unexpected, good things in life. In the powerful name of Jesus, amen.

Genre: Non-fiction

Copyright 2025: The Strawberry Plant: Melinda Cooper: All Rights Reserved