If tumbleweeds were a cash crop

My family and I are new to this area and while we have lived in many areas of our beautiful country, we are also new to the “high plains” flora and fauna.

The first two things we noticed when we moved here were: a) The wind. My first week here I was told by no less than seven people that the wind “wasn’t always like this.” I soon realized that the unsaid end of that statement really was “it’s sometimes worse!” and, b) The weather. I have lived in southern California and South Carolina, Minnesota and Texas and more than a few places in between. I have grown to enjoy all four seasons. But never have I seen all four in the span of one week.

I must admit that the tumbleweeds were the most unusual surprise. They are kind of quaint, sort of like a living museum piece, a throwback to a simpler and more wholesome era. Yes, I’ve heard some of the history of Sidney, but I’m thinking of “Little House” here. What I cannot figure out is where do they all come from? By the looks of my yard after the earlier mentioned wind blows for a few hours and you would think there was a 1,500 acre field bare somewhere.

What does all this have to do with an article on the Religion page you may ask. Fair question. God created all of this world, and the rest of the universe as well. He created it with an amazing abundance of diversity and beauty. We have God’s record of His creative activity in the book of Genesis. It starts with a simple, but truly profound statement “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1 New King James Version) God offers no apologies, no explanations. He doesn’t even try to prove His own existence. The assumption is that God exists. You can reject Him, you can try to mold Him into something He is not, you can even try to ignore Him and pretend He does not exist. Mankind has been doing these and more for as long as we have existed. But what we cannot do is explain this universe with all its variety and superb craftsmanship without the presence of a Master Craftsman.

Alas, I doubt tumbleweeds will ever become a major cash crop, but they most certainly are part of God’s beauty in this world. We can look at them and see God’s amazing hand in creation and marvel at the wisdom of His plan and love for this world displayed in the smell of a rose or the beauty of a sunset.

God bless. Pastor Scott