A Dream of Gigantic Proportions and a Pumpkin?

We all have dreams, aspirations, and goals. For most of us, those dreams are to be expected such as graduate, get a job, buy a home, and raise a family, but a dream of growing a giant pumpkin is rare and intriquing. A rare few have achieved such a goal, but maybe the story I’m going to share will inspire you to grow your own pumpkin or just reach towards that dream you’ve conceived as impossible.

John Mann (my dad) has big dreams and no matter how impossible they may seem to my family, he has great confidence and sees them through to completion. His dream of growing giant pumpkins began after seeing them on display at the NC State Fair. John said, ““I imagined what it would look like to have one of those behemoths growing in my garden.” So, he set off to prepare for this new conquest by setting aside 600 sq. ft. and ordered the pumpkin variety “Atlantic Giant.”

The pumpkin this year quickly took over the garden, but it wasn’t always that way. The first year, the seeds were planted too late that they didn’t take off. This year though, John set himself up for success. He started these in March of this year and because of a mild winter, he was able to prepare the ground and plant the first pumpkin April 2^nd. He built a cold frame and put clear plastic bins on them at night to protect them from the temperatures that were still creeping down to below the 50’s.

John put a lot of care and effort into his pumpkins with about 1 to 2 hours of work a day to make sure they were well fed, watered, pruned, and fertilized. He was dedicated to going and checking on them, measuring them, and carefully recording what he learned to help him with next year. He said, “It's not a large pumpkin compared to the sizes that you see at the fair, but the valuable experience I gained from growing the pumpkins to me could not be measure by the size of the pumpkin.” It was a great success to have his pumpkin reach 150 pounds!

John fully intends to grow his giant pumpkins again next year. His motivation for growing giant pumpkins? To watch the smiles on people’s faces when they see it. His neighbor loved checking on the progress every morning when he went out to care for it. Mann said about the experience, “Although it was a lot of work to grow them, it was fun watching the pumpkins grow and measuring the progress daily. I could literally see the changes every day when the pumpkin was at peak growth. Some days, growth was as much as four additional inches in circumference!” Now that is a story worth sharing.

“Words To Remembrance” Guest Post by Wenle

When I was little, a missionary gave me a book that had Bible verses as
songs. I listened to all the songs, so I would remember the Bible verses. Music
makes words easier to memorize. Now when I pray about something, there will be times when I suddenly remember one of the songs. When I hum the tune to myself, the words begin to flow into my mind and they are the very ones that I need to hear. So
God uses this as one way to answer my prayers. Right now, I have a lot of
decisions to make about next year, final projects, and tests coming up to
finish this term. It is easy to get bogged down and forget about faith and maintaining our relationship with the Lord.

When I prayed about keeping things in perspective, I remembered the song
that goes, “He will quiet you, he will quiet you, he will quiet you by his
love, his love, oh…” I looked up the words, and it comes from Zephaniah
3:17 ESV. It reminds me of the time when Jesus calmed the storm on the lake
in Mark 4:35-41. Everything we have going on in our lives are distracting
and scary, but Jesus quiets our worries. A burden tumbled from my heart
when I remembered that Jesus is there all the time in every circumstance no matter how big or little. I am thankful that God has put it into peoples’ hearts to use their talent of making music to spread the good news of Jesus.
A hymn I like "My Hope Is Built": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVE-xXFDOwg
This hymn reaffirms that Jesus is the only way to God; he is our savior. We
can't rely on anything but Jesus to give us hope.

A Divine Appointment

Have you ever had that moment when you know that something was just meant to be. Some may call it fate, but I call in a divine intervention. That moment where you realize there is something bigger than yourself at work. God's hand has a way of touching us at the second we need it most. Not too soon and never too late. Sometimes I react in frustration when things don't happen right when I want them too, but that is requesting things on my time table and not waiting for what God has in store for me 

Chicago was full of a series of divine appointments and what better a place to experience one than at Millennium Park. It was pitch dark with just the city lights to light the way. My friends and I wanted to capture this monumental moment and asked a nearby lady to snap it for us.

From initial encounter, she looked like she had been through some rough circumstances. I guessed that she might be from the rough side of Chicago, but let it be, until I felt a small pull on my heart. Maybe you've experienced it before. The tug you get when God wants you to do something. So I took a deep breath and approached the lady. She was taking selfies so I asked her if she wanted me to take a picture for her. She said that actually she was from Chicago and so began our conversation.

She lived on the rough part of Chicago. Nothing like the glamorous attractions that Downtown Chicago promotes I imagine. She began to talk about how the Lord was faithful to her as she had a cyst that was on her leg and the Lord healed her. Her and her husband had to rely on a soup kitchen to make it through, but now they wanted to give back. They sold post cards and key chains of Chicago. I was moved by this lady's testimony and was compelled by the Holy Spirit to pray for her right there in the dark, black night in the city of Chicago. Imagine what I would have missed if I would have said no to God. I was changed that night and learned how obeying God and embracing those divine appointments has the power to change us and the person we encounter.

Praying with lady in Millennium Park