Sunflowers in My Garden

I have discovered a new love in recent weeks:  gardening.  I've never had a garden before, and though in the past I have tried to grow potted tomato plants, I have had very little success.  The truth is, the closest thing I've ever had to a garden was when my mom painted a picket fence and sunflowers on my wall when I was 15.  I was a bit obsessed with sunflowers at the time, and truth be told, not much has changed since then. 

Sunflowers are bright and beautiful; they are sturdy and strong.  Sunflowers grow tall, and not only were they given their name because they resemble the sun, but they also follow the sun...I think there's a lesson there, but that's not exactly the point I wanted to make this morning...

We have an area in our backyard that I have lovingly dubbed "the mud pit";  the soil is so over saturated in parts of it that it's just a constant muddy mess.  You see the owners of our house used to live here, and they used to have a garden there, but now it's just a patch of dirt that gets the run off from the sprinklers and my kids' inflatable swimming pool.  For a year now it's been mud;  a part of our yard that I keep the kids out of, and where we store icky toys and other things we're not really sure what to do with.  Two months ago we purchased three tomato plants "just to see" if we could grow them without killing them.  It worked!  I can eat fresh tomatoes everyday if I want, and I often do.  
With the success of our three little plants, we decided to expand the garden.  It took some cleaning, some throwing old toys away,  and  some pulling weeds, but eventually we had a beautiful "clean" patch of dirt with which to start.  We went to our local garden center and picked out a variety of fruits and vegetables; on a whim I grabbed a package of sunflower seeds.  When we got home, we wasted no time getting those plants in the ground, and as I hopefully (and sentimentally) sowed the sunflower seeds by our picket fence I had a lingering doubt in my mind that they would actually sprout;  they are just seeds, tiny compared to the thick muddy dirt I was planting them in...would they really grow? 

As if reading my mind, my husband asked me, "So, do you really think those seeds will do anything?" 
"No," I replied without hesitation, "but we'll see what happens...."

I'm still in a bit of shock over what I'm about to tell you, but it's true...they sprouted...all of them!  At this moment they are only about two inches tall, just green stems with two to four leaves each, but they are every bit as beautiful as I imagined!  All I did was plant a seed in the ground, not even a pretty, colorful seed...a black and tanish one...but from that a sprout sprung forth;  what an amazing thing!

As I have been marveling over this for a few days, God, in His continuous faithfulness to me through my daily reading schedule brought me to the parable of the sower in the book of Luke. In this parable Jesus tells of a farmer who sows his seed in various places;  the seed sown on the path is trampled and eaten by birds, the seed on the rock withered due to lack of moisture, the seed sown among the thorns were eventually choked by the thorns, but the seed in good soil sprouted and yielded a crop.  Jesus often spoken in parables, but then would explain the meaning behind them to His disciples:

" This is the meaning of the parable:  The seed is the word of God.  Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.  Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root.  They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.  The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.  But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop." 

 Luke 8:11-15

 

 

 

I am amazed at how God works through His word in my life;  I am in awe that His timing in revealing Himself to me is perfect.  When I sowed my sunflower seeds I had no idea if they would turn into anything, but I had hope;  the same is true with the seeds I sow in life.  When I share His word with people, when I am an example for Him, and a witness for Him, I have no idea what kind of soil it's falling into, and I have no idea if those seeds will take root in some one's life or not.  Whether I know that or not doesn't matter;  God just asks me to do it.  You see, He is the gardener.  He knows what the soil is like, and when we are faithful to Him and do what He asks of us, every so often the seeds we sow will sprout into something beautiful, colorful, strong, and sturdy.  Every so often they will start to resemble the Son and follow Him. 

 

When we noticed the sprouts coming up along the fence line, my husband said, "Wow, I really didn't think those would do anything."

I said, "Neither did I, but I am so excited that they did!!" 

 

 

When you start to sow seeds in life's garden you may doubt the soil they're falling into, and truthfully you may not be in the same place long enough to see if the seeds sprout or not, but take heart, He knows, He sees, and He cares for each one. 

 

Some of the plants we planted that day have withered and died, some are showing potential and with the proper care will hopefully produce the fruit they were meant to, and as for our little sunflowers...well, I can't wait for them to mature, and to see those bright, beautiful flowers growing tall and following the sun.