Pumpkin

My husband, Jonathan, and I met when we were 15 years old. We are now 48 and have been together a VERY long time! How long? 33 years and still going… thanks be to God. (Tomorrow is our anniversary.)
At age 15 we were so sweet to each other and also gave nicknames. One nickname he gave me, that stuck for a long time, was Pumpkin. I thought it was so sweet when he would call me Pumpkin. We don’t have sweet little names for each other anymore, but we are also not the same people we were back then.
As relationships grow and mature, so do the people in the relationships. You get to know each other better; understand each other better; and you start appreciating qualities in each other that can no longer be defined by a sweet nickname. It’s much deeper.
That’s how I feel about my relationship with Jesus. The longer I walk with Jesus and get to know Him, the more I appreciate Him and what He has done in my life. He is my Savoir, my Rock, my Redeemer, the only one who has never let me down. Jesus is my anchor and my life preserver. I can do nothing on my own without Jesus.
In John 15:5 Jesus says “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”
I know this to be true and I’ve seen it time and time again in my life. Just like in this picture of the pumpkin, the vines are connected to this pumpkin and they give the pumpkin water (RAIN) and nutrients and allow the pumpkin to grow and thrive. Without the vines, the pumpkin would have never survived.
Jesus is my life source! I have tried to run from Him; do things my own way; cut myself off from Him… but I have discovered I come up empty, wanting, and unfruitful. And… I did not want to live my life that way.
I want to stay connected to the true vine – Jesus!
Jesus says “Remain in me and I will remain in you.”
I hope this has encouraged you to turn back to Jesus if you’ve been going on your own path. Or if you have remained in the “vine”, I pray this has encouraged you to be fruitful and share the love of Jesus with others.
God bless your journey!

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