Thursday, February 26, 2009

Photostory Friday: The Story I Forgot to Finish

PhotoStory Friday
Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek



Many moons ago, I told you a tale of faith and wonder -- but I only told you two-thirds of the story. 

(I apologize for the recap -- and the repeat pictures --  for those of you who have been here for the whole thing).

Last Spring, before we moved, the home we were living in had a big garden on the side of it. 

We are NOT gardeners.

So our next door neighbor worked the ground. Emma, almost five at the time, was fascinated with the daily process of growing and caring for the garden. She would spend hours walking through the garden with our neighbor -- peppering her with gardening questions.

Saying Emma is inquisitive is like saying the ocean is damp...

One day Emma came to me and asked if she could have some popcorn. I told her we didn't have any popped. No, she wanted the unpopped kernels -- she was going to plant them in the garden. 

I gave her eight little unpopped kernels of Orville Redenbacher's finest, and a pat on the head, and sent her on her way. I gave it not one more thought. Until she came to me several weeks later, and told me, excitedly, to come see her corn (looking back now, I realize that she was always talking about taking care of her corn - watering it and weeding it etc... -- it makes me wonder what else I'm missing). 



I actually put her off for a couple of days, because I didn't want to break her heart when I told her that what she was seeing were weeds.  I was wrong. 



What was growing in the garden was eight little stalks of corn, about three feet high. Much to the surprise of me, my wife, my neighbor -- maybe everyone but Emma and God -- the popcorn was growing. 

I knew you could grow popcorn, I just didn't know you could grow...you know...popcorn.



Even then, we wondered what the stalks would produce. It turns out, by late summer, they had produced about ten little ears of corn. We "harvested" them, dried them, and then stripped the corn from the cobs. And that's where we pick up the story:


When all was said and done, we ended up with about a cup and a half of very small corn kernels -- they were about half the size of the original seeds. But would they pop? 

Indeed they did.


This story is more emotional for me than I thought it would be. Such simple faith -- coupled with hard work (Emma did all the watering and weeding) produced such amazing results. 

Emma NEVER doubted that her corn would grow. She planted it and cared for it, just like you're supposed to. She expected results. And she got them. 

I am so proud. 


VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!!
I am considering changing my profile picture, but I'm rather indecisive, so I'm leaving it up to you (the poll is in the top right hand corner of the page)


1. Indiana Jones. I'm a HUGE Indiana Jones fan (I may have mentioned that). This was me last Halloween. A dream come true.

I know, I know...


2. Emma and I, on the Farmington Trail. The picture is blurry, but I love it. Emma is the only one of my kids that still holds my hand when we walk. This is the only picture I keep on my desk at work. 



3. The Guitar. I like to look at this picture and pretend I'm a good guitar player. 



4. Wafers. I love these wafers. I would marry them, but we frown on non-traditional marriage in Utah.




5. The Current Picture. This is Jordan and me (taken by my son, with a little guidance from his father...) You can probably guess why I like this shot. 

If you were here yesterday, you know that I had a sixth picture, but I stupidly forgot to put it on the poll (thanks Corey!). 


Vote Early and Often. 

Pretend like you're in Illinois. 


47 comments:

Anonymous said...

Chris, this made me smile so big!! If everyone lived and believed as Emma did what a wonderful world this would be. :)

Loved This Story!

Wayne said...

Great picture i love the way you got the sun to peer through the stalk like that

Pam Emmons said...

I love this story. And Emma's smile is SO big!

Jill @ Sneaky Momma said...

What a beautiful story! Your little girl looks so rightfully proud of her bowl of popcorn. She'll be telling this story to her children some day...

Mom24 said...

Wow! That is really an incredible story. It's amazing what our kids can do and teach us when we just shut up and get out of their way.

I still vote for the picture of you and Emma.

scrappysue said...

definitely INDIE. DEFINITELY.

Alex @ I'm the Mom said...

Aw yay!! I'm so glad Emma's kernals popped! Good for her for sticking through it and enjoying the end result :D

Cecily R said...

Emma is my new hero. Seriously. The world needs more of her in it.

Bren said...

I love Emma's faith! Wish I had that much myself...

Val said...

Ok so Emma will be famous in Tooele. I am using her story and your words in Young Women's for an activity in faith. Thanks Emma Your amazing!!!! I may need some autographs. (Chris pass that message on to Emma)

Supercool Hotmama said...

Her grin is soooo great! What an awesome story!

LOVE the profile pic choices too! It makes me feel so powerful to think that I have a chance to make a difference.

tammi said...

I remember that corn story! I loved it then and I love how you've wrapped it up. Oh, to have the faith of a child!!!

And I'm STILL voting Indiana Jones.

Straight to Your Hart said...

That is truly a story of faith. What a smart little angel she is!

What about Jack?? There has to be a picture for that!

BTW...I met Christine when she was in our ward in Centerville. She is one of my sweetest friends (now if I would talk with her more often)! How do you know her?

Kacey said...

This story made me smile the whole way through. And I LOOOOOVE her sweet face full of pride & accomplishment with her little bowl of popcorn. Oh what faith can do!

P.S. It's ok that you didn't know what Etsy was, I'm here to enlighten. LOL

Corey~living and loving said...

woo hoo! what a GREAT post. I melted my heart and made me want to dance. :) what a fab story, and a great little spirit.
happy PSF!

Shannon Strong said...

I say the photo of you two holding hands-that stole my heart---as did the popcorn story. How beautiful...I love it! You tell her how much all of us in bloggyland think she is ultra cool-and give her a hug and high five :-)

Maggie May said...

So glad your little girl had the faith to wait for the corn to pop out of the ground!
She will grow up to be one of life's carers and there'll always be bread on the table!
Lovely post.

latree said...

a long worthy waiting...

I love that guitar picture, but idiana jones looks cool ;)

Mom said...

I'm so glad her corn popped!!
How proud she looks, and she should be, of her hard work & effort to produce that.

Tough choices on the voting...I really like them all!

Kat said...

Aww. I love this story! I've never heard it so I'm really glad you reposted it. So sweet.
I never knew you could just use regular old Orvelle's popcorn to grow corn.
What a great story!!!! :)

Kelly Deneen Raymond said...

WOW!!! I had no idea it was so easy to grow popcorn! And Orville's popcorn at that! I am so proud of your Emma. :)

Anonymous said...

This was a great post! I love that she took all that responsibility with not a single doubt and conquered! That is great! Great pictures as always!

I love the Indie pic and the one of you and your little gal! I can't choose just one! :)

tiarastantrums said...

hey - I AM in Illinois funny guy!

Loved the recap of the popcorn story - very touching!

imbeingheldhostage said...

The corn-- that corn story is what made me a forever fan of this blog, so I didn't mind hearing it again at all.

MamaGeek @ Works For Us said...

Dude. You're hilarious. I WILL pretend I'm in Ill-a-noise.

:)

That popcorn? Market it! I'm so glad we heard the full story!

Michelle said...

As always.....fabulous pictures Chris! To be honest I didn't know you could grow popcorn either. :)

Karin said...

AWESOME story! You are a great dad. It's amazing how much our kids can teach us. How proud she looks and how proud she should be! I feel like printing this out and sticking it on my fridge, it's a great story oh so many, many ways.

Kelli @ writing the waves said...

I think I'd have to go for #2. I'm a bit of a sucker for those sentimental shots.

And I can't tell you how much I LOVED this story and how IMPRESSED I am that it came full circle. I was looking at those pictures like - WHAT??? It really worked???

Awesome story. Really awesome.

Cathy said...

What a great story! She looks so proud of herself...and, she should be!

Christine Evans said...

I absolutely LOVE the popcorn story about Emma. If it were one of my kids I would have told them that the kernel wouldn't sprout and grow corn. I'm glad you didn't tell her that. Sometimes the greatest lessons come from the simplest things.

Emily said...

Wow...that's an amazing story! Emma looked so proud of her bowl of popcorn...and rightly so!

kayerj said...

And a little child shall lead them

I vote for the wafers!

I'm a fellow "Utahn" so I totally get it!

kayerj said...

oh and being from Utah where self-reliance is taught from birth, I've actually grown my own popcorn, shucked it, taken it off the cob, and cooked it in an old-fashioned shaker pan over a campfire. Doesn't get better than that.

my vote--best post of the day

Izzy, Emmy 'N Alexander said...

Such a sweet story! Emma sounds like an amazing little girl!

Once for Halloween, we put up cornstalks next to our driveway with hay bales. When we took them down the corn kinda crumbled all over and I failed to clean it up, I just swept it into the yard. Yep, a few months later I was a city girl with a front yard full of corn. I knew it was growing eventually but I didn't have the heart to get rid of it. lol!

I love the sun and stalk shot too! Nice perspective!

My word is milibe. Hmmm, sounds like a granny name. loL!

Gina said...

Child-like faith. I just love this reminder. What a great photo of the sun poking through the corn stalk. It's a toughie with the profile pic. I love the first, second and fifth. Doesn't help much does it? Okay, I think my favorite might have to be the current one. Probably for some of the same reasons you love it. It's just really so sweet. Indiana Jones is always a winner too though. Okay, still not helping.

Krystyn @ Really, Are You Serious? said...

It is truly amazing the lessons our kids can teach us.

I hope my daughters constantly remind me of the faith required for everything and the result of that faith.

More importantly, it lets us realize we are doing a good job as parents.

Anonymous said...

What an inspirational tale of faith.
Because she knew it would happen.

I think too often as adults we dismiss their big plans since we've met failure ourselves. We wait for them to learn the inevitable big lesson and we're the ones that learn something.

It's a beautiful story Chris; thank you.

Anonymous said...

I've never heard that story b4 and I love it!!! I had no idea you can plant mustard seeds, I mean popcorn..

I vote for all of the pictures, but the one that "fundraises" for me will win. I learned that from our former gov.

Susan said...

That is one precious child you have. What a great reminder to all of us that faith can move mountains...and make popcorn.

sunshinesls said...

What a great story of faith!!! Children are GREAT!

Carrie and Troy Keiser said...

Thanks for finishing the story. I did wonder if she got some pop-able corn out of her hard work... so glad that she did!

Anonymous said...

Love that you came back to finish this story. That's awesome that she was able to receive the fruits of her labor. She looks so proud.

Debbie in CA : ) said...

What a story!!! I cried . . . I cheered . . . I craved tiny kernels of popped corn held in the proud hands of a darling girl with a BIG God. This post really blessed me. : D

Momisodes said...

That is such a wonderful story. So inspiring and heartwarming. Emma is such a doll.

I ADORE photo #2. I have a similar phot of my husband and daughter walking hand in hand. One of my all time favorites :)

tommie said...

I love this story and the shots that went along with it.

Personal fav profile pic = Indiana Jones for sure!

Holly said...

I love it! I love that your daughter never doubted her corn would grow. And I love that the popcorn actually did pop too!

Now I want to go plant some corn . . . .

Kacey said...

I have something for you over at my blog! Come by when you have a chance!!