Seed pods and harvest

Harvest time.
My son and his family came for a weekend visit and the weather was perfect for spending time outdoors.  In this photo my grandsons are harvesting moonflower seeds.  The blooms on the moonflower vine were spent long ago and the foliage has nearly all dropped off the vine.  But the seed pods are full and heavy.  I showed my grandsons how to crack the dry pods open and retrieve the seeds.  The seeds will be held on to and stored until spring when we can plant them and wait once again for blooms.  From this one moonflower plant, four of my grandsons and I have harvested many seeds. (My oldest daughter visited last weekend and her two sons took a bag of seeds home with them.)
As we hold on to these seeds through the winter months, we often must hold on to our hopes and our dreams, patiently waiting through a cold winter of disappointment and despair before they bloom.  And as these seeds are hidden,  promises for us may be hidden - hidden in parts of our lives that have withered and dried.  Crack open those hiding places, trust in those promises, believe in those dreams, and patiently wait.  They will bloom.  Your blessings will multiply.