Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Big Bloom



Big Bloom, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.
A little over a week ago, my sunflowers finally bloomed. When the bloom started to come out, they hit a growth spurt and shot up an additional 1-2 feet. This particular flower is over 10 feet tall.

I'm so glad I added these flowers to my garden. I have no idea how I am going to harvest the seeds or extract any oil from them, but sometimes we just need to see and remember beauty.

I've felt a need to be extremely pragmatic and efficient with my time and efforts over the last few days, and this flower is a reminder that you can be efficient and pragmatic and still let beauty shine. The sunflower's broad leaves and thick stalk are two traits that reflect it's effeciency and pragmatism. There is no way a plant could grow this tall without having those broad leaves to catch the sun's rays and a thick stem to give itself support.

The flower uses its limited resources to grow and develop so that it can flourish. In our lives we have limited resources of time and money (among many other things). How effectively do we use them? Is something beautiful coming out of our efficiency and pragmatism? Is there something coming out of our efforts that makes people pause and say--what a wonderful gift, and what a beautiful use of resources.

As we put in long hours this week on the cafe and in preparation for the return of students this is my prayer. It's also my prayer for you. That you would use the gifts, skills, and talents that the Creator of the universe has given you to bring beauty into your world--that He may be glorified through your efforts!

1 comment:

Pam Swope said...

I have one too that's only about a 3rd of the size of yours and I didn't even plant it....a bird did!
So it was a pleasant surprise gift from God.
I'm enjoying your blogs and your thoughtful attention to our earth. It encourages me to do better and more to save it!
Did you know I have a new blog? Pam's place not longer is used. It's now swopenewswv.blogspot.com
Hugs, Pam