The deer in our neighborhood and I have two different opinions about sunflowers When I plant sunflowers each spring I rsquo m looking forward to the beauty of their blooms My deer friends however don rsquo t care about the finished product They simply want to chew the stems and leaves until there rsquo s nothing left It rsquo s an annual summertime battle as I try to see the sunflowers to maturity before my four-hoofed neighbors devour them Sometimes I win sometimes they win When we think about our lives as believers in Jesus it rsquo s easy to [... more]

A stately sunflower stood on its own in the center of a lonely stretch of national highway just a few feet from the fast lane As I drove past I wondered how it had grown there with no other sunflowers visible for miles Only God could create a plant so hardy it could thrive so close to the roadway in the gray gravel lining the median There it was thriving swaying gently in the breeze and cheerfully greeting travelers as they hurried by The Old Testament tells the story of a faithful king of Judah who also showed up unexpectedly [... more]