While we were there, we walked around the pumpkin patch. We saw
pumpkins of all shapes and sizes and colors. There were small, hard, white
pumpkins that, while they were aesthetically pleasing, would only be useful for
decoration; you couldn’t carve them into a jack-o-lantern. There were gourds
that were also beautiful to look at, with their varying colors. Some were all
orange, some were orange and green, some were yellow; but the one
characteristic they all shared were the bumps on the outside. Some had few,
while others had many.
When we made it to the bigger pumpkins, you know the ones
you search for to carve; there were rows upon rows of these magnificent creations.
As we walked through the vast array of pumpkins, we found some that were
perfectly orange. Some were more round than others. Some were tall and skinny,
while others were short and fat. Some were flat on one side. Some were even
rotting. Some were dirty from sitting in the mud from the recent rain. Some
were clean, as though someone had walked along and brushed the dried mud off of
them. Despite the fact that we were not planning to buy a pumpkin, it was still
enjoyable to look at and compare the many sizes and shapes of the pumpkins
available.
I sit now and think about how I can feel like a pumpkin.
Waiting, while everyone walks around you and the other pumpkins near you, in search
of their ‘perfect’ pumpkin. Waiting, for someone to come along and scoop you up
and say, “You are just right for me.” Waiting, for someone to come along and
say to you, “You are worthy of being on display at my house.” Waiting, for
someone to recognize all of the wonderful qualities you have to offer. Waiting,
for someone to choose you. Waiting, for just the right person, that one person,
who knows all of your bumps and discolorations and misshapen features, and
still chooses you. Chooses you to love. Chooses you to share their bumps and
misshapen features with. Chooses you to trust. Chooses you to dream their
dreams with.
I’m so glad that I have a Creator who doesn’t view just my
exterior. Who doesn’t look at my bumps and bruises and scars and see them as
the world sees them. He sees my scars as beautiful. He views my flaws and sees
a work-in-progress. He sees what no one else can. You see, when I look at a
pumpkin, I can smell the aroma of roasting pumpkin seeds. I can recall from
years past, the crisp, salty flavor of that first bite into the seeds. I can
even go back to a time, so long ago, that I was in elementary school at
Mulberry, roasting pumpkin seeds in my first grade class.
In 1 Samuel 16:7, the Lord says to Samuel, “Do not consider
his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look
at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord
looks at the heart.” This came after the Lord rejected Saul as king and a new
king was sought. The Lord had sent Samuel to Jesse, from whose lineage a new
king would be chosen. Verse 6 reads, “When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and
thought, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.’” See, Eliab
was the oldest of Jesse’s sons, and so Samuel assumed the eldest was to be the
new king. However, as verse 7 tells us, the Lord sees our hearts and there was
something in Eliab’s heart that made him unsuitable to be king.
I am drawn to Psalm 139:13-14, which reads, “For you created
my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because
I am fearfully and wonderfully made…” These verses remind me that I am exactly
how God has made me. Granted, I’ve exercised free will several times in my
life, so where I am in my life has also been influenced by my choices. But, God
made me the perfect combination of my mom and my dad. He made me, flaws and
all, so that through my free will and my circumstances, I would bring Him the
glory.
See, that’s what we are all here for. To bring God the glory.
From every situation. In every circumstance. In good times and in bad. Because
it’s not about us anyway. So, on this day, I choose to give God the glory. For creating
me in such a way that He knew He would get the glory from my life.
