For weeks we have been driving past a planted field trying to guess what was planted. Too tall for squash. Too tall for peas. Leaves too big for peanuts. Finally, much to my surprise, I rounded the corner and came face to face with a field of giant sunflowers. Immediately I was taken back to Budapest in the summer of 2008. I was on a mission trip and we had to drive the back roads of Hungary to get to the airport. Miles and miles of sunflowers on both sides of the road were the only scenery we saw for several hours.

I came back to real time, slowed the car down and soaked in the view. A fascinating fact about sunflowers is that they are in the heliotrope family. This means that the heads of these flowers actually follow the sun throughout the day. All day long, they stay focused on the light from the sun and soak up as much as possible, turning themselves as needed, towards the light.

As I drove by a few days ago, I noticed that many of the flowers were no longer holding their heads up and following the sun. Many of them were hanging their heads over, heavy with seeds. My heart filled up as I acknowledged the picture before me. These flowers, who had been so focused on soaking in as much light as possible and intentionally following the sun, were now so heavy with seed that they could do nothing else but bow and offer their seeds to anyone who approached.

A tear sneaked from the corner of my eye. What an amazing picture of what God calls us, as believers to do. We are to follow the Son and soak up His light, keep our gaze focused on Him, always turning wherever He leads and after we have soaked it all up, we bow and offer our filled up lives to be used to nourish others.

I want to be like a sunflower. I want my life to follow Him and get so filled up that I get heavy with the good stuff. The fuller I am, the more I want to bow my life and let God use me to nourish those around me. How about you? Are you filled up with the good stuff? Make sure to bow your life and share with those around you.