[bluidkiti]

The farmer loved to grow pumpkins. Each year he planted his pumpkin seeds. The seeds disappeared into the ground in neat rows and grew there in the dark until tiny green shoots slowly poked its way out of the soil.

Soon, long green vines stretched across the ground. Their leaves opened wide to catch the sun. Those tiny buds sprouted into little pumpkins.

Day by day the pumpkins grew. How different they all looked! Some were tall and lean. Some were short and round. Some were smooth and shiny, others had lumps and bumps.

Harvest time came at last. The farmer loved all of his pumpkins but chose only one to display for his neighbors to see on Halloween.

He carved a happy face, put a small light inside the pumpkin that made it glow and placed it on his porch. When people walked by they saw the smiling pumpkin and smiled right back.

The farmer turned a simple pumpkin into a simply glorious sight. In the same way, God offers His children the chance to be made new, full of joy and full of light shining like stars in a dark night.

Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

Adapted from the Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs