Till My Trophies At Last I Lay Down

On a hill far away, stood an old rugged Cross
The emblem of suffering and shame
And I love that old Cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain

So I'll cherish the old rugged Cross
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged Cross
And exchange it some day for a crown

That is a great old hymn with a great message.  I can remember winning my first trophy.  I was in the Fifth Grade and in the 4-H Club.  We had a fundraiser that involved selling seeds.  The person selling the most seeds would win a trophy.  I was really excited about winning my first trophy and did several things to ensure victory.

First, I rode my bicycle up and down our road, knocking on every door and giving it my best sales pitch.  I remember the green box that contained many individual packets of seeds.  You could either buy the entire box or the individual envelopes.  I sold a bunch of seeds, probably from people that either felt sorry for me or just wanted me off of their property!

Next, I raided every bit of change I could scrape up and bought seeds from myself.  Then, I strong-armed my little brother to buy seeds from me with all of his spare change.  I ended up winning the trophy.  It was a nice trophy with a solid wood base, a metal cup with the 4-H emblem on it and a plaque with an inscription on it.  It is still in the trophy case in my room at my parent’s house, but has long been forgotten about.  There are likely other things in front of it and it may have a little dust and tarnish on it.  I haven’t seen it or thought about it in quite a while.

And that’s the thing about our earthly goals, trophies, and rewards.  At some point they are the most important thing, but their worth doesn’t last and in the big scheme of things, they are immaterial and unimportant.  That’s why the Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Matthew 6:20 “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

You would think that I would have grown up to be a salesman, but I’m not in sales.  As an adult I just don’t like hitting people up for money.  But I do still like seeds!  Not selling them, but purchasing them and planting them.  There is still a reward (trophy) that you receive from planting seeds that comes in the form of the satisfaction of growing and eating delicious homegrown vegetables. 

In late June, I weedeated (weed ate?!) the area that I had planted in sweet corn in the spring and then worked it up with a shovel and then a hoe, preparing a nice seedbed.  Then on July 1 I planted three types of pumpkins from last year’s seed packets I purchased from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (not an enterprising 4-Her!) – Jack Be Little, Jarrahdale, and New England Sugar Pie.  Planting them on July 1 means that you’ll have pumpkins ready for late October.  Here is a photo of the pumpkins just coming up a few days after planting.

I also planted an assortment of cowpeas from seeds that I saved including Blackeyed Pea, Ozark Razorback Peas, and Purple Hull Peas.  Here are some of those that are just coming up a few days after planting.

I’m going to spray some fish emulsion on them to give them a little boost, but a month later, here is a photo of both the pumpkins and the peas.

With favorable conditions, maybe in late October I’ll be able to lay down some trophies in terms of big beautiful pumpkins and we’ll exchange them for some pumpkin pies and empanadas!