Sunflower Linings

Some consider sunflowers to be a weed, since they thrive without care and multiply exponentially in flower beds and fields. In my own gardening past, I pulled up little sunflower saplings (trust me, sunflowers grew like trees in my flower beds) by the hundreds every year. I loved their bright, cheery faces, but they threatened to overwhelm all the other flowers due to sheer numbers and size, so I weeded out all but those at the very back of the beds.

This summer, I’m missing my sunflowers almost as much as my roses. God has not left me bereft, however. Wild sunflowers line the paths where I run and the roads where I drive—by the thousands!

“You’ve got my feet on the life-path,
    with your face shining sun-joy all around.” –ACTS 2:28 (MSG)