Skip to main content

{March is well under way}

February days are now gone and March has officially kicked in.   I finally purchased a new monthly focus board.  We ventured out for a day date which included a movie. I love our day dates. I will give my honest review about the movie for those interested. I wanted to see this movie as it was based on a true story. I did enjoy the movie but oh my, it was a tear jerker from the get go! It ended good but mercy! Let's just say that I am thankful that no one was sitting close enough to see my tear stained face. I am glad that I saw it but I am good for a while on sad movies, even if they do end good!   My oldest daughter, her husband and their son participated in the Spartan race which is a series of obstacle courses that challenge. They done so well. As you can see from the pictures it gets pretty muddy!  My three daughters participate each year in the Gate River Run. I love it that they do this together. They have so much support & encouragement from all the onlookers. I am just

{SON-Flowers}


Don't you just love sunflowers? When I think about sunflowers I think of two things. My motherinlove who loved sunflowers and Fall.



I came across a devotional written by Julia Bettencourt on sunflowers and thought it so appropriate for today as I wanted to share my sunflowers with you.

Here's a few lessons we can learn from the sunflower. 

 Sunflowers Track The Sun.
 Most plants are attracted to light but the flowering head of the sunflower actually tracks the sun following it's path and moving toward where it is in the sky all during the day. I read somewhere that sunflowers track the sun when they are in bud stage. Isn't that how it usually goes for us as Christians? When we first come to know the Lord, we get excited about knowing all about Him and living for Him, but after awhile we sometimes grow a little preoccupied with other things and get our eyes off of the Lord. 

Wouldn't it be great if as a Christian we'd track the Son of God and follow Him all day long? No matter what was going on in our lives and throughout our day, we wouldn't take our eyes off of the Son. 

 Sunflowers Need to be Stabilized. 
The second thing I've learned about the sunflower is that it that it needs to be firmly planted in the soil in order to grow. Sunflowers grow so tall and their stems become so heavy that they will topple over if they aren't stabilized in the ground. 

I know as a Christian it's very easy to topple over if we are not grounded in the Word of God. We need to know what and why we believe what we do so our feet are firmly planted and we won't falter in our Christian growth. 


Sunflowers Produce Seeds. 
Did you know that a single sunflower can have up to 2,000 seeds? When we think about sowing seeds as a Christian, just think of the potential reach that each of us can have to spread the Gospel. It could be limitless if we would just sow those seeds. 


Sunflowers Produce Oil 
The oil that the sunflower produces is considered a good oil with healthy benefits. As Christians we should be producing the fruit of the spirit (love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith). All of those have some healthy benefits on us as Christians and on others that we meet. 


 Sunflowers Resemble The Sun. 
Sunflowers not only follow the sun but when you look at them, they resemble the sun too. Resembling the Son should be one of those things we do as a Christian. Being Christ-like is an essential part of being a Christian. 




Conclusion:
When I think about the lessons from the sunflower, my mind goes to that fifth chapter of Ephesians where it's talking about following God and all the ways we are to act as Christians. It starts out in the first couple verses by saying,

"Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour." Ephesians 5:1,2


The timing was so perfect with this devotional for me today.

My oldest granddaughter Raygen and I purchased a pack of sunflower seeds from Walmart spontaneously. I never dreamed that they would actually sprout but they did! I have a little garden of beautiful sunflowers now. Some are in full bloom while others are beginning to bloom. I had enough ready to pick and put in a vase to carry to my motherinlove.  AND....it doesn't have to be Fall to enjoy the beauty of sunflowers.

But really? Who needs sunflowers when you live with the Sweestest SON-flower of all!



Hugs and blessings, Cindy



Note: The pictures with scripture written on them are 5x7 size with a full resolution format. You are welcome to make a copy of those two prints if you are a lover of sunflowers.







Comments

  1. I totally LOVE it when God speaks to us through His creation....and I know He does it all the time, I'm just too pre-occupied with myself to watch, look and listen. Oh, how AWESOME He is! This is such a great analogy, my Friend! And, your SON-flowers are gorgeous. I know you miss your MILove so very much. You were a great DILove! HOPE you have a sweetly blessed day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Debbie. God is good at how He speaks to us.

      Delete
  2. Cindy,
    What a beautiful post about beautiful blooms!! thanks so much for dropping by!!

    Hugs,
    Deb

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your sunflowers are so pretty. I bet you plant more next year don't you?
    Connie Royals

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Connie and yes...I will be planting more sunflowers for sure!

      Delete
  4. Beautiful post, Cindy! I have two volunteer sunflowers in my garden this year. I do enjoy them. And I want to be living in the Son.

    ReplyDelete
  5. GREAT post Cindy. I enjoyed it so much! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I learned so much! I feel refreshed and cheerful now. Thank you beautiful Cindy! Love how you took the sunflowers to your M-I-L graveside. You're a doll.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awe...thanks so much for your sweet comments. My motherinlove was very LOVED by our whole family and missed terribly. She loved sunflowers.

      Delete
  7. I love, love sunflowers and wish I had a whole field of them. They are absolutely beautiful just like you and your devotionals. But even more than sunflowers I love the SON and the many blessings that He gives me. Jackie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awe Miss Jackie...Sunflowers are sure pretty all year round. Thanks for stopping by again today. You are precious!

      Delete
  8. Cindy, Another great post. I call them SonFlowers because my son, Bobby , loved them.Or he knew how much I loved them. He would buy me seeds for planting every year. We had huge sunflowers growing in Colorado. I miss all of that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awe...thank you for commenting. I know you must miss your son terribly. This is the first time I ever planted sunflowers. Will plant again for sure.

      Delete
  9. Love your encouraging words and pretty photos. This was a great mid-week Bible lesson, that is what they are to me, anyway! I look forward to them and re-read them many times.
    Thank you for sharing this special part of your spirit with me.
    Blessings,
    Jemma

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for your swwet words which are ALWAYS an encouragement to me!

      Delete
  10. Wow, so many great things we can learn from the Sunflower, Cindy! As always, so inspiring and lovely! Thank you so much for you lovely posts.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Sunflowers are so attractive and beautiful and your analogy is just perfect...Christine

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Cindy, Sunflowers are gorgeous and I love them too. I wish I had some in my garden and may just have to add seeds like you and your grand daughter did and see what happens. Lovely analogy of the sunflower and we as Christians. It is a beautiful lesson and history of the sunflower and our heavenly SONflower!!
    Thank you for sharing. You always bless with your posts.
    Hugs, cm

    ReplyDelete
  13. Great devotion! I really like Julia Bettencourt and refer to her often when planning for ladies group meetings. Your sunflower pictures are really good!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I enjoyed reading your post and came to know about more things about sunflower. Thanks for sharing them...

    ReplyDelete
  15. Peace Sister! haha...looks amazing and like you all had a great time. I love the hippie look, totally love the 70's. I know someone from the 60s or 80s would disagree with me on me saying that the 70s had the BEST music!!!! And I don't know about you but a record player is so much better then a CD! But if you can't do the record player, then the radio works nicely. My radio is always on in the car, the station, 60, 70, and 80s....

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

So glad you stopped by to visit.
Hugs and blessings, Cindy

Popular posts from this blog

Hiding the Ugly Hot Water Heater

 I shared that I wanted to hide my ugly hot water heater in my laundry room with you a few weeks ago. It just stuck out like a sore thumb. But after all it is a hot water heater right? So my man took a piece of wood (not real wood) but it worked and built a frame for me. So now to see if it would fit and it did. I painted it white and did not like the texture it had even after two coats of white. (rule of thumb...you get what you pay for and the wood was cheap) But I wasn't going to let it whip me!  Found some contact paper at Walmart in the gray and white. Covered the front with the contact paper and loved the look. The top was covered with a piece of painted wood as well and worked perfect to place this on top... And this.... Added a clothes basket in the corner and here was the top.... Yep, no longer an eye sore to me! Went perfect with my gray walls and gray and white floor. Remember the wood tray I bought at a yard

{Another Fun Filled Weekend}

I hope you all are doing well. I am trying to wind down for the night and thought I would try and get a post out. Girls, by this time I am in my fat clothes and recliner smashing that remote control!   Marty and I kicked off our weekend by having a little fun food as I call it,  "charcuterie" style out by the pond. Of course I always fix more than we need or eat but it sure was good.  Two of our granddaughters had dance recitals over the weekend so we got to watch them perform and oh my! They were just the cutest things ever.  We were blessed to be able to see them perform. Then we celebrated a birthday for this sweet grandgirl! She was excited about being double digits . And besides all the fun from the weekend I was able to see some of my pretties in bloom.  Now to enjoy a cup of coffee.... I hope that you all have a wonderful, blessed week.  Hugs and blessings, Cindy

{Happy 46th Wedding Anniversary To Us}

  Happy October everyone! I wanted to pop in today and share a few pictures. Marty and I celebrated our 46th wedding anniversary on September 23.  Oh it seems so long ago that we said "I Do". We started dating when I was 16. Married at 18 and began a family at 20. Needless to say we have surely grown up together. Praise the Lord that we are growing "Older" together.  We decided since it had been about 8-9 years since we had been to Savannah, Ga. that we would take a weekend there and just enjoy a scenic luncheon cruise.  We enjoyed walking River street and sightseeing, shopping and eating of course! It was a nice get away and perfect for us as we are simply two imperfect people that fit perfectly together.  I did spot Santa while in Savannah though! YES, I love Christmas so I had to stop at several Christmas shops! We've had outings that have kept us quite busy and we have surely been blessed to be able to attend our grands functions and our little outings toget