Pumpkins breakthrough!

Each morning, I usually serve my husband Jason a slice of steamed or baked pumpkin. The doctor  advised that pumpkin is good for him some years ago so we began putting that into his morning breakfast quite regularly. So we have bought many varieties of pumpkins - from the very expensive Japanese and Korean pumpkins costing some RM70+ and above to the very cheap local variety about RM5+ for each pumpkin.

During those season where we bought the expensive pumpkins, we just thought it would be good if we could grow the expensive variety and not have to pay through our nose for it. So we sowed some pumpkins seeds and lo and behold, the seeds sprouted and became healthy looking plants. In fact they looked so healthy and the leaves were so abundant, so green and fresh that I used to comment to Rodziah my maid that if only we could eat the leaves, we may not need to buy vegetables. But Rodziah advised me against eating the luscious leaves saying they could cause us to be gatal.

But we got discouraged when all the pumpkins sprouted was leaves and leaves alone. Then we stopped planting them. Later we tried again with local varieties. This time we saw leaves and lovely, pretty happy yellow flowers. And we thought there was some hope of eating our own homegrown fruits. But the flowers never pollinated though I tried to pollinate some manually. And so we gave up planting again. But Lydia Seoh encouraged. Her pumpkin plant produced one fruit hiden up on the tree and she gave it to us. And so we tried again and just let the plants grow.

Then one day I got really excited when I saw 3 small pumpkins form. To my horror, a few days later I saw the squirrell eat the fruits and also my neighbour lop off the branch with the small fruit. Aiyoh - I was so heartbroken. Then I saw more fruits again. Wah! I summoned my maid to tie newspapers to prevent the tupai from eating them and she did. But the fruits did not stay and dropped off. Sadness...

But I thought of the verse. "I have chosen you and have ordained that you should bear fruit and your fruit should remain." So I spoke to Papa God about this verse which was the first verse I actually memorized when I became a Christian.

Now a few weeks later, we found the fruits that remained - 3 fruits now that are sizable in the sunnier part of our back garden. Happiness. Looking at the pumpkin fruits is now looking at our anak - we check closely how big they have grown.

                                                                    Hidden pumpkin

                                                                        Ripening soon

High up on the tree.

We can't wait to bring the first fruit that ripen to Pastor Swan and family. The pumpkins fruits have helped us understand different levels of breakthroughs - from only leaves to flowers to fruits that didn't remain and now finally to fruits that remain.

The pumpkins have helped us understand the meaning of perseverance with things that dissappoint us again and again. May our lives be like the pumpkins and we finally bear fruit that remain and delight God and others despite going through many failures and dissapointments.