It is the fall of the year.
The time of year where pumpkins are everywhere.
But what if you didn't want a pumpkin?
Here is a true story:
Once upon a time a mother and daughter were walking in their yard. They stumbled upon an area where a vine was growing and they had not planted it. As they looked at the vine, they supposed it was a cucumber vine and were thrilled. They could almost taste the freshness of the cucumber as they began to water and care for it.
Soon the vine became big enough to bloom. The excitement rose higher in their hearts as they continued to water and nourish it. Time was getting closer to viewing the beautiful, small green fruit popping from the vine.
Then one day, the fruit began to grow. As they walked closer to the garden, they realized something.
A small, beautiful green cucumber did not greet them.
It was the beginnings of a pumpkin.
A pumpkin.
The fruit that the daughter disliked and the mother did not think too highly of either.
A pumpkin.
Their disappointment was evident, but they chose to still nurture it and watch it grow. In the process of nurturing something they were not thrilled about having, they learned something in the process about pumpkins. One of the things learned is that pumpkins grow - and grow - and grow. The vines take up a lot of space and you don't want to hinder their growth by trying to cut them back. The pumpkin vine took over the area, but they stayed consistent in its care.
Eventually, one pumpkin grew big enough to pick and it survived. They became so attached to the pumpkin that it became quite the prize. They knew how hard they had worked to grow it, so they chose to place that pumpkin in a special area. They kept it as long as it could last.
They still missed the taste of the cucumbers that never grew, but they learned things about pumpkins in the process of growing them that would never have been learned if God had not allowed that little vine to sprout up in the most unusual place.
I have had many pumpkins when I thought I was getting cucumbers. Some I have accepted more than others. One in particular is one I never realized until recently. The Lord used the story I shared above to open up my eyes to a truth He was trying to show me in life.
I am a teacher. I love teaching and I desire for my students to love learning and grow greatly.
I am also a mother. A mother who teaches. A mother who thought that because she was a teacher her children would love learning and grow greatly in studying and get awesome grades.
We began to nurture our own cucumber vines - our own children - when they were given to us almost 16 years ago. I will admit that I had high hopes for what would come from their "vines." I pictured that because I was a teacher my own children would grab onto learning and grow, grow, grow. They would be successful "cucumbers!"
As the nurturing began to produce blooms, we began to become excited that the precious cucumbers would be appearing soon.
Instead, God gave us pumpkins.
Our pumpkins do not enjoy the garden of school as much as I had hoped. The little female pumpkin does well enough, but she has to work really hard to grow in that area.
The garden of school is just not the favorite growing spot for our male pumpkin. He would much rather grow at his own rate and take life a bit slower. He honestly thinks he should have grown in a patch in the middle of nowhere so he could be free to grow at a different rate. He doesn't like to be held down to the same spot in the garden - he would rather grow on his own. He struggles to understand why it has to rain when he only wants sun.
The garden of the Freshman year has been some hard soil in which to grow so far. We are all struggling in how to provide the correct nurturing for our little pumpkins. We are truly accepting of the pumpkins that God sent our way - we just want to make sure we are giving them the best soil, water, and sunshine that will allow them to flourish into the pumpkins God has planned. We also can't cut them back to what "we" think they should look like or we will kill their growth altogether.
We are learning more and more to go the Master Gardener as He is the One Who planted them right where they are. When He planted their seeds He knew they were going to be pumpkins instead of cucumbers. He knew the cucumbers were limited in their use - in a salad, by themselves, or turned into pickles - some of which are quite sour.
He knew pumpkins would provide food in different ways - the flesh and the seeds.
He knew that pumpkins would be great joy as their splashes of color dotted the landscape of a pumpkin field - a field in which children would run excitedly to them to find the "perfect pumpkin."
He knew that pumpkins would be used to decorate a front porch for fall and would add brightness to the homes.
He knew there would be pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins.
Look at all that we gain from pumpkins that a cucumber could never provide.
(Whoever heard of a cucumber-spiced-latte!?)
So - I must ask these questions.
Do you have any "pumpkins" in your life that you didn't want? Any part that you were dreaming of one thing, but the Lord chose to send you something else?
Even if you get a pumpkin when you thought a cucumber was growing, just remember that the Master Gardner had it planned from the moment He planted that seed. He knows what is best. Those secrets of revealing what we do not expect are all for His glory!
Deuteronomy 29:29 ~ The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
