and i thought i was planting sunflowers because i liked them.  god spoke again in the life cycle of these beautiful flowers.

the other day, my kids came running in saying that i had killed the sunflower...that it was drooping and dry and withered...i was so sad and feeling so guilty. i have never been able to really grow anything, so i thought this was just another sad case of purple thumb.  well, last week,  i went on a small get-a-way....i was walking past some art galleries and there were the most beautiful sunflowers i had ever seen just peeking over the top of the fence. i got closer to look and there was the groundskeeper tending to the flowers.  I asked him about my droopy flowers...he reassured me when he said that they were doing exactly what they should and showed me this flower.

on first look of a sunflower, it looks like it is a single flower with bright, big petals and a HUGE center.  well, the center is actually made up of TONS of little flowers.  underneath those little flowers is the seed...those yummy sunflower seeds.  i asked about the petals falling off so soon and he said it was exactly what it was supposed to do....who knew???  well, you probably did...

this is what god showed me:  the flower is beautiful when it blooms..but the beauty doesn't last a long time...and then it becomes really productive..once the petals fall off...the beauty is gone...but not all the beauty..because there is beauty in the productive part--those little flowers, they are there and very beautiful in a very understated way--and most people would not give the flower a second thought once the 'big' beauty is gone.  then, when those are gone, you are left with the fruit...the seed....

as most women, i have struggled with my appearance and the {seeming} loss of it. I am learning to  appreciating who god made me to be--in all stages of life--my petals have fallen off :) , my {natural} production has come to an end and now is the time for fruit and seed being scattered and planted.  but we have to have all of the stages to make the next ones possible.  and we can't have them all at the same time.  (well, I know some of you can a couple of them together, but most of us can't).  god is teaching me--and i am a slow learner--that he made me just the way he wanted and that i am accomplishing what he wants me to...and the beauty is there...it just looks different.  And that the beauty He gave me is still there, it just goes deeper--with age, like the sunflower.

Charm and grace are deceptive, and beauty is vain {because it is not lasting} but a woman who reverently and worshipfully fears the Lord, she shall be praised!~Proverbs 31:30, Amplified

linked up today with a holy experience and chatting at the sky and sweet shot tuesday and so much shouting so much laughter