ReApiNg... Teensy

I'm so super proud of my little dude.  He has been raising pumpkins since he was about 18 months old.  He is known for his success... winning blue ribbons from the Mountain State Fair, teaching his Mee-Maws class about pumpkins and being on the local news.  He is an awesome pumpkin grower... AKA The Pumpkin Man :)  In this post, I want to take you on a journey from his first pumpkin, to the ones he grew this year.  It's quite commical. Let me paint the picture of his history.

Keebryn's first planting at age 18 months.   Precious little hands!

 



OK... this is his first garden at same age...

and Keebryn watering his garden...

... Now, Keeb has continued from this tender little age until now, planting and loving his pumpkins.  A few years ago, he grew the largest regular pumpkin (not giant) at the fair and was on our local news for his accomplishment.  So super proud!  We usually give away tons of pumpkins and have between 75-90 in our little garden.  People enjoy watching him grow and harvest them. 

Picture of Keeb at age 4 with his huge pumpkin...

Cuttie Toot!  So, this year, we have huge aspirations.  We are now senior planters and growers of pumpkins and we totally ROCK :)  We planted over forty seeds, hoed each row by hand and planted each.  We watered them and kept the weeds from killing them.  We loved them and aspired over them :)  We had a HUGE plan.  We were PlaNnInG on selling them and earning money for Keebryn to do something he had never done.  ....FLY in an AIRPLANE.  Oh the PLAN, Oh the aspiration:) 

And to the punchline... THIS is what was entered into the State Fair this year.  

 

Meet Teensy.  Keeb's little pumpkin (teensy pumpkin :).  Funny, YES.  However, he did take home a big blue ribbon for first place in the smallest pumpkin category. 

 

My first thought was... "What ever happened to reaping what you sow?"  Something I heard my entire life.  Usually these were words from my mother, as I was on my way out the door as a teenager :) Then, God made some sense of it.  WE had OUR plans and we worked toward them... reaping and hoping to sow.  Hoping to sow for ourselves.  We did reap with hard work, but God wanted us to sow in a different way. 

 

Not completely sure yet, but I believe He wanted to show us that we don't always reap in the way in which we expect or sow toward.  He had a different plan.  And so, we sowed a cute, teensy pumpkin (without any hope for monetary gain or a plane ride).  Who knows,,, maybe it wasn't the year to be riding on a plane.  Maybe he was helping my son realize that hard work is important... even IF we don't benefit from the work. 

 

I have to say, my little dude had a positive attitude about Teensy.  When he scaled the other pumpkins at the fair, he came to me with a conclusion, along the lines of...

" I think I've got 'em (beat)!"  And he did.

Keebryn is seven years old.  Although he frequently describes his age to be 7.5 :)  He has been a huge blessing to my heart and to my husband, Keith's heart.  Life before him was boring and lacked major amounts of luster.  Funny how God knew what was lacking and exactly how he would send Keebryn to this world, long before we did.  I praise God for creating Keebryn.  God has a purpose for Keebryn and I can't wait to see how God's plan unfolds.  I praise God for blessing us with Keebryn and sending him, (out of nowhere!)  into our lives... to fill us with experiences, joys, laughter, smack your knee hilarity, tears and excitement!  My cup oVeRfLoWeTh.