A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope,
encouragement and exhortation.
Brooksyne and
her friend Jane with Cramers Farm Celosia (cockscomb)
"Blooming
Where You're Planted"
Daily
prayer:
Father, we know that You are the Master
Gardener, Jesus is the vine and we are the
branches. As long as we stay connected to
the vine we will reap a harvest of
righteousness, peace and joy and life
eternal in heaven. But meanwhile here on
earth we may find ourselves in places and
situations not of our own choosing. Even
then You want us to plant seeds of goodness,
kindness, generosity and love. We will reap
a harvest of blessing from You and will
bloom where we are planted if our heart and
will is fully surrendered to You and when we
fully trust You to be working all things for
our good. Amen.
Message
summary:
Our planting is "doing good"; living in
obedience to God's commands and
seeking to fulfill His purpose for our
lives. The promise is that we
will at the proper time reap a harvest, if
we do not give up. Thank God
for the blooms along the way. Let's keep
planting wherever the Lord
leads us.
Listen to
our message on your audio player.
"A sower went out to sow" (Matthew 13:3). "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9).
Cramers Farm is a huge commercial flower
farm around the
corner from our house.
(Interestingly for long-time readers, this
was the farm that our Amish friends Jesse
and Anna Ruth lived on when we first met them
in 2003).
Several weeks ago we shared a photo of Florencio Esparza, one of the field workers preparing a bunch of Zinnias he generously gave to Brooksyne when we had had stopped to talk* with him as we drove by. Last Saturday Brooksyne and her friend Jane took a walk by the farm as a different set of young workers were picking Celosia. Once again the workers generously gave them each a bunch to take home. It was an interesting sight as they walked up the road and into our driveway with the colorful long stem cockscomb.
These are not wild flowers randomly planted by nature but Keith Cramer, the owner of the farm and his staff, plants them each spring and is blessed when they bloom where they are planted. They are then harvested and have blessed many, from two friends on a walk to the scores of city folk where they are distributed and sold. This week they received a large order for Dahlia's to be displayed at the National Cathedral where John McCain is temporarily laid to rest.
Humans have had a role in planting since before the Fall. God placed Adam in the garden of Eden to work it, maintain it, draw nourishment from its fruitful produce and to enjoy its beauty (Genesis 2). Cain is described as "a worker of the ground" (Genesis 4:2). All through the Bible we see the record of planting and harvesting. Today, although many give little thought to it, we all depend upon the hard work of those who plant and harvest.
We first heard this phrase, "Bloom Where You're Planted" from our years in Bible College. The saying has the sense that we are to let God use us by being fruitful wherever we find ourselves. Sometimes we plant with careful strategy such as the farmers on the Cramers farm near our home and other times we must plant and sow seed where we didn't expect to be.
Marlin Smucker is one of the company owners we work with. His son, Jordan Smucker, is planting a new church in Columbus Ohio. Years of planning and preparation have gone in to this endeavor. The glory, of course ultimately goes to God, but many times we do have a planning role as to where we plant and where we are planted.
Today's text begins the parable of the sower. "A sower went out to sow." He had gone out to sow (plant) with planning and purpose. The goal was a harvest.
In our lives on various levels we are planting (sowing) every day expecting to see the fruit of our labor. We memorized our second text today early in our ministry, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
Our planting is "doing good"; living in obedience to God's commands and seeking to fulfill His purpose for our lives. The promise is that we will at the proper time reap a harvest, if we do not give up.
Thank God for the blooms along the way. Let's keep planting wherever the Lord leads us.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Listen to
our message on your audio player."A sower went out to sow" (Matthew 13:3). "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9).
Cramers Farm is a huge commercial flower
farm around the
corner from our house.
(Interestingly for long-time readers, this
was the farm that our Amish friends Jesse
and Anna Ruth lived on when we first met them
in 2003).Several weeks ago we shared a photo of Florencio Esparza, one of the field workers preparing a bunch of Zinnias he generously gave to Brooksyne when we had had stopped to talk* with him as we drove by. Last Saturday Brooksyne and her friend Jane took a walk by the farm as a different set of young workers were picking Celosia. Once again the workers generously gave them each a bunch to take home. It was an interesting sight as they walked up the road and into our driveway with the colorful long stem cockscomb.
These are not wild flowers randomly planted by nature but Keith Cramer, the owner of the farm and his staff, plants them each spring and is blessed when they bloom where they are planted. They are then harvested and have blessed many, from two friends on a walk to the scores of city folk where they are distributed and sold. This week they received a large order for Dahlia's to be displayed at the National Cathedral where John McCain is temporarily laid to rest.
Humans have had a role in planting since before the Fall. God placed Adam in the garden of Eden to work it, maintain it, draw nourishment from its fruitful produce and to enjoy its beauty (Genesis 2). Cain is described as "a worker of the ground" (Genesis 4:2). All through the Bible we see the record of planting and harvesting. Today, although many give little thought to it, we all depend upon the hard work of those who plant and harvest.
We first heard this phrase, "Bloom Where You're Planted" from our years in Bible College. The saying has the sense that we are to let God use us by being fruitful wherever we find ourselves. Sometimes we plant with careful strategy such as the farmers on the Cramers farm near our home and other times we must plant and sow seed where we didn't expect to be.
Marlin Smucker is one of the company owners we work with. His son, Jordan Smucker, is planting a new church in Columbus Ohio. Years of planning and preparation have gone in to this endeavor. The glory, of course ultimately goes to God, but many times we do have a planning role as to where we plant and where we are planted.
Today's text begins the parable of the sower. "A sower went out to sow." He had gone out to sow (plant) with planning and purpose. The goal was a harvest.
In our lives on various levels we are planting (sowing) every day expecting to see the fruit of our labor. We memorized our second text today early in our ministry, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
Our planting is "doing good"; living in obedience to God's commands and seeking to fulfill His purpose for our lives. The promise is that we will at the proper time reap a harvest, if we do not give up.
Thank God for the blooms along the way. Let's keep planting wherever the Lord leads us.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer:
Father, we know that You are the Master
Gardener, Jesus is the vine and we are the
branches. As long as we stay connected to
the vine we will reap a harvest of
righteousness, peace and joy and life
eternal in heaven. But meanwhile here on
earth we may find ourselves in places and
situations not of our own choosing. Even
then You want us to plant seeds of goodness,
kindness, generosity and love. We will reap
a harvest of blessing from You and will
bloom where we are planted if our heart and
will is fully surrendered to You and when we
fully trust You to be working all things for
our good. Amen.
Hard
working floral farmers!
(Click
on photo to enlarge)
The
Cramers Farm adds color to our neighborhood
(Click
on photo to enlarge)
The
men are harvesting a field of sunflowers
(Cramers Farm is in the background).
(Click
on photo to enlarge)
Jane
showed Brooksyne how she made a nice
arrangement with her cockscomb.
We
have many bikers that ride by our house and
in our neighborhood. As the ladies were
walking and enjoying the fields of flowers
many bikers drove by them and shared a brief
greeting.
Today's
Suggested
Music and Supplemental Resources
The
Cramers Farm on Google map
talk*
Florencio knows limited English and we know
limited Spanish but he still seems to
appreciate the interest.
Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne
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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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