A number of years ago, a friend sent me a card with a small packet of sunflower seeds attached. The thought of sunflowers in my garden made me smile, and I thought I’d plant the seeds beside our brick patio at the front of the house.
“Sunflower seeds?” said Another Friend Who Shall Not Be Named. “You’ll never be able to grow those here. It rains too much for sunflower seeds.”
His laugh made me doubt my vision of sunflowers, and instead of planting my seeds in faith, I set them aside, got distracted by other things, and forgot all about them–until I saw these sunflowers growing on our church yard.
Ha! I said out loud even though I was by myself at the time. It’s not too wet for sunflowers! Visions of sunflowers can come true after all!!
I wanted a picture to mark my revelation, and as I tried to get just the right angle, a neighbour came over to watch. He didn’t speak English, and I don’t speak Punjabi, but between our smiles and gestures, it became clear that he wanted to shade the sunflowers for my picture and just as clear that he didn’t want to be in it, so I took this:
So now I know, sunflowers still make me smile. Sunflower seeds planted in faith and hope can grow strong. Sunflowers can even help make friends. And if I ever get another packet of sunflower seeds, I’ll be sure to plant them.
Writing/Reflection Prompt: What seeds have you received that you’ve never planted? What visions have lain dormant that you’d like to grow?
For more faith-focused and writing-related articles,
please sign up for my free updates.
I’d love to keep in touch with you!
April Yamasaki 
April, you gave me the laugh of the day when I saw the sunflowers under the umbrella! Maybe we should all learn to speak a bit of Punjabi! And don’t throw those sunflower seeds out. They might still work next year!
And I love our bulletin of Sept. 18 – full of sunshiny sunflowers! Have a good week!
Thanks, Mary–so glad I could bring a bit of sunshine to your day!
I like to spell them Sonflowers to remind me of how God’s presence via hiser Son can bring sonshine into our lives, even when it rains or when it’s scorchingly, unbearably hot.
That’s such a great reminder, Maria. I think I should spell them that way too from now on. May God’s presence continue to shine in your life and bless you.
Thank you for this blessed writing. Often times what people say can cause us to stop doing what is godly or for our good and through us others. The power of words cannot be underestimated. May God help us not to fall prey to the words and attitudes of others that can paralyse or stop our vision. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for your word of affirmation. This is just one small example that turned out kind of fun(ny), but it illustrates what you say about the power of words–both the words we say and the words we hear from others.
These little revelations are like jolts of positive energy to the soul, April. I too loved the umbrella man story. What a sweetheart.
I also love the irony, Shirley, that I didn’t plant my seeds because it might rain too much here, but the man with the umbrella appeared not because of the rain, but because of the sunshine!