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As I write this, Hurricane Ida has pummeled New Orleans and makes her way north and east. High winds and heavy rain bring a stark contrast to the baking heat the past weeks. While most of my flowers have wilted, my dwarf sunflower plant flourished. It thrived in the intense temperatures and lack of real water (a reference to rain). Water from the hose just not the same.
I shot the video above two years ago in sunflower fields in our community. A windy day for sure, but those flowers reached for the sun, refusing to be overcome. I’ve written about sunflowers before, but they beckoned me again. Not just because they bloom in my yard, but because you’ll find some in the pages of Tangled Promises.
The photo on the left was July 19th, the day I planted this dwarf sunflower plant with just one bloom. The same plant five and half weeks later bounded with flowers as it has the whole time. With Sunflowers’ ability to withstand the extremes of summer heat and drought with their heads held high, reminds us of Scriptures like these:
For the Lord God is a sun and shield.
The Lord gives grace and glory;
He does not withhold the good
from those who live with integrity.
~Psalm 84:11
His brilliance is like light;
rays are flashing from His hand.
This is where His power is hidden.
~Habakkuk 3:4
For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.
~2 Corinthians 4:6
Sunflower season will come to an end soon, but Jesus is always in season. There are a million reasons to reflect His glory every day, which brings me to one of my favorite verses. OK, I’ll admit the verse refers to palm trees and cedars instead of sunflowers, but you’ll get the idea.
The righteous person will flourish like the palm tree,
He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Planted in the house of the Lord,
They will flourish in the courtyards of our God.
They will still yield fruit in advanced age;
They will be full of sap and very green,
To declare that the Lord is just;
He is my rock, and there is no malice in Him.
~Psalm 92:12-15
As I inch closer to advanced age (whatever that may be), I choose to be full of sap and very green. No matter the storms or the heat that come, I’m keeping my eyes on Jesus to declare His glory like a sunflower!
My other blog post about sunflowers contained fun facts. Please check them out at this post: Like a Sunflower, Keep Your Eyes on the Son.
Sonnenblumenkernbrot is a thing.
Sunflower Seed Bread–a traditional German recipe. Typically, you make it with a rye sourdough starter. I found a recipe that found its way around that requirement. The bread was tasty, but I recommend using sunflower kernels instead of the whole sunflowers. Add other small seeds. The whole sunflower seeds were rather fibrous and challenging to eat. Another suggestion: reduce the salt by half. Here’s a picture of mine. We enjoyed them with Strawberry Rhubarb Jelly from Purple Patch Farm.
Link for Sunflower Seed Bread recipe.
©2021, Lynn U. Watson
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
All images are my own.