The Smallest Pumpkin

At the harvest display, the children carried pumpkins to a long table. Alice brought a small orange one from her family's garden. Beside a pumpkin almost as big as a chair, hers looked tiny.

She tried placing it behind a basket so nobody would notice. The leader asked where Alice would like her name card. Alice shrugged and said her pumpkin was not important enough for a card.

The leader sat beside her. She explained that the display was not a measure of the children's worth. Some plants had more room, more water, or a different kind of seed. A big pumpkin did not make its owner a better person.

Alice looked at the smooth orange skin of her pumpkin. She remembered watering it with Grandmother and turning it gently so the bottom would dry. She moved it to the front of the table and placed her name beside it.

When visitors arrived, Alice described how it had grown. A little boy liked that he could lift it with both hands. She helped him put it back safely, and they counted the larger pumpkins together.

People are far more important than the things they bring to a display. The Bible teaches that God made us with wonderful care. We do not need to be the tallest, strongest, or most noticed person in a room before our lives matter to Him.