How to be a Sunflower for the Lord

by Charlene Jamison

How can we be a Sunflower for the Lord? Let us learn this valuable lesson from sunflowers themselves!

Sunflowers (Helianthus Annuus) are plants with a huge flower head. They can grow as tall as ten feet! Their seeds are edible as well. These flowers are usually vividly yellow, sometimes orange and even maroon!

At sunrise, the faces of the sunflowers are turned towards the east. All throughout the day, they follow the sun from east to west. Then they go all the way back to the east direction at night and wait for the sun to rise. This spectacular motion is possible by motor cells in their pulvinus which is a flexible part of the stem just below the bud. This process is called heliotropism.

To grow well, sunflowers need the full sun. They also thrive in fertile and moist soil. Let this be an inspiration for Christians of how we need to be always facing the Son. Let Him always be set before our faces all throughout the day.

"When thou saidst, Seek ye my face: my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek." Psalm 27:8

As Christians, we also need to be planted on good soil. Like the parable of the soils, we need our hearts to be soft and watered by the Word. The roots will grow deeply, and our souls will grow up to many feet tall like sunflowers do! We need the sun to nourish us, and good soil for us to thrive to be amazing sunflowers in Christ!

"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2

Charlene is a deaf mom of two boys, one being hard of hearing. Her heart for God shines through her life and she has the 'law of kindness' in her words. She has her Bachelors Degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences, writes for AGMinistries, and you can read more about her at 'Bring on the Rain'.

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The Pollination of God's Word

by Charlene Jamison


We can find God in everything and I mean that literally. Everything of life testifies of Him. One illustration I will show you will be through flowers and pollination. This fascinating procedure has a wonderful testimony of our relationship with Christ and others.

What is pollination? It is the transfer of pollen from a stamen (male part) to a pistil (female part). A flower has both reproductive parts. The seeds are made at the bottom base of the pistil which is called an ovule and pollination starts the production of the seeds.


Flowers need to attract other animals to help them carry their pollen to another plant. Some examples of animals who help with pollination are humming birds, bees, butterflies, moths, flies, and so forth. What's interesting is that those animals are usually unaware of it. They land on the flower because it's bright colors and sweet smell attracts them. The pollen sticks onto them as they rub against the stamens. The pollen goes with them from plant to plant.


This gave me a wonderful illustration of evangelism and spreading the gospel. As flowers, are we bright and cheerful so we may attract others to see the light of God within us? Do we have a sweet smelling savor, which are kind words that come out of our mouths? We should evaluate ourselves whether we draw others unto us.

This is an opportunity for us to place our 'pollen' onto them, and plant seeds in their lives. God's Word never comes back void. Unbeknown to the person you touch, they will carry it with them wherever they go. Touching one life can reach many more down the road. You'll never see quite how many more flowers bloom in God's garden because of your testimony.




"So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper [in the thing] whereto I sent it." Isaiah 55:11









Charlene is a deaf mom of two boys, one being hard of hearing. Her heart for God shines through her life and she has the 'law of kindness' in her words. She has her Bachelors Degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences, writes for AGMinistries, and you can read more about her at 'Bring on the Rain'.

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The Silent History of Deafness

by Miss Charlene

I was honored to be asked to write an article on deaf history. I love every opportunity I can to teach others about deafness. I will list some facts and history about deafness, and I also encourage all of you to do extra research on your own. This is a fascinating topic!

Unfortunately, deaf people have had a hard struggle all throughout history. Many were misdiagnosed as mentally retarded. This happened for a long time until the seventies. These deaf people had to live a life confided in homes for the mentally ill when they could have led normal lives. Times were very hard back then and they are still a struggle today.

This can be found far back in history. Aristotle the philosopher said that deaf people could not be educated and that people without hearing are incapable of learning. A lot of people accepted this saying and it became accepted for a long time. From this saying, the deaf son of King Croesus of Lydia could not be recognized as the heir to the throne.

Deafness was also recognized as "sin." St.Augustine told people that they had deaf children because God was angry at the sins of the parents. We see that in some churches today where deafness is viewed as a sin, but I want to remind everyone of the verse in Exodus 4:11:

"And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?"

During the renaissance, people started experimenting with symbols and sign language to educate the deaf. Juan Pablo Bonet wrote the very first book of alphabet sign languages for the deaf in 1620. The French were the first place that started sign language when Abbe Charles Michel de L'Epee of Paris developed a system of gestures, hand signs and fingerspelling.

Signing was also found in America by the Great Plains Indians. Although this was originally for intertribal communication, it is still surprising to see the similarities of their signs and the present signs today. In America, we have established a national sign language system called 'American Sign Language' also known as ASL. Each country has their own and it can vary slightly in different areas of each country.

The first American school for the deaf was founded by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. Abraham Lincoln signed the charter for the college to open in Washington D.C.

(Interesting Fact: The sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial statute of Abraham Lincoln in Washington DC, Daniel Chester French, designed Lincoln's hands to sign an A on one hand, and an L on the other to pay tribute to him for having signed the federal legislation giving Galludet the authority to grant college degrees. Daniel had a deaf son and was familiar with sign language.)

The college is still standing today in Washington D.C. and another deaf college has opened in Rochester, New York called National Technical Institute for the Deaf. There are two in America today.

In the 1870's, Alexander Graham Bell experimented with the conduction of sound through electrical devices that were originally intended for deaf children to hear but he made the telephone instead. Miller Reese Hutchinson invented the first electrical hearing aid in 1901. The early versions of hearing aids were very heavy, and awkward to wear. They consisted of separate microphones, amplifier, headphones and a bulky battery. It wasn't easy to carry around. The designs improved more over the years and now we see digital and lightweight versions that can easily be hid inside the ear.

In 1920, Galludet University's football team would huddle around and sign their secret plays to each other. That started a new tradition of huddling and using hand gestures in football.

Closed captioning was established in 1972 and they are typed words that go on the bottom of the television screen. Those words tell the deaf audience what is being said in the movie. Deaf people had to buy a separate captioning box to hook up with the television for captioning, but now we have captioning and subtitles already included with the television and dvd players. We can see the symbol of a square with a CC inside on the back of movies to check if it includes closed captioning.

Marlee Matlin became the first deaf actress to win an academy award. She won the award for the movie, "Children of a Lesser God." She has performed many movies since then, including the most recent movie, "Sweet Nothing in My Ear." I recommend these movies to understand the deaf culture better!

A deaf woman named Heather Whitestone from Birmingham, Alabama won the title of Miss America in 1995. She performed ballet en pointe to the song "Via Dolorosa" as her talent in spite of being profoundly deaf. She also wrote an inspiring book about her experiences called "Listening with My Heart."

Many deaf people throughout history have made amazing accomplishments. Imagine living in a world where people thought you couldn't do anything, and then being able to enjoy the exhilaration of proving that you could. Disability is only in the mind and it is the result of not believing in yourself. We are all able, with whatever body God gives us. It has been proven many times in history.

Here is a good website to learn about all the deaf people and their amazing accomplishments.

http://www.deafpeople.com/history/index.html

Personally, I was born deaf and I come from a deaf family. My cause for deafness is hereditary and that does not happen often. I am very blessed to have a deaf family. This is my 'normal' and I wouldn't change it even if I had the chance. Many of us feel the same way.

Deafness is also the only disability that has formed it's own culture. We have our own history, our own language, characteristics, technology and things that we embrace in our 'deaf world.' It is a gift from God to enjoy a variety of cultures and meeting different people. I encourage all of you to take some time and learn about the deaf culture. There are so MANY deaf and hard of hearing people out there and it is a blessing to see more people take an interest in learning about us.

Thank you for reading this article!

And here is a fun fingerspelling guide that you can practice if you're interested in learning!

Charlene is a deaf mom of two boys, one being hard of hearing. Her heart for God shines through her life and she has the 'law of kindness' in her words. She writes for AGMinistries, and you can read more about her at 'Bring on the Rain'.

With No Place to Call Home

By Miss Charlene

I was asked to write this article because SisterLisa knew that I had a past of being homeless. I will have to think about some things that I have finally forgotten. It took me a long time to get over it growing up as a kid. I can honestly say that looking back, in spite of the hardships, it was a valuable lesson to be learned.

I was born into a deaf family. I had a deaf father, mother and younger sister. I was also born on the road because we were constantly moving with no place to go. My father refused to work and received a disability income from the government called Social Security. Often times, he would leave us and my mother stranded in some strange town to fend for ourselves. Where he went, none of us really knew.

We were in a different town every two months or less. I have been to fourteen different schools and that was before the fourth grade. My mother tried counting all the places that I have lived and it was over forty different places. I grew up in the backseat of a car, and not even the same car because my father would trade it in every two weeks.

My sister and I grew up sleeping in the backseat of the car. Some people would let us sleep on their floor if my father knew them from his old school or someplace else. If we were lucky, we would get to sleep in a motel room. I loved motel rooms and I especially loved the vending machines with snacks and soda!

There were many times when our car broke down or if we ran out of food, that my father would make us stay at a supermarket parking lot all day in the sun and sell ABC cards. These cards were a tiny card that showed the hand signs for the alphabet. It had a BIC pen that was put in the middle. Inside the card, it said "any donation needed."

My father would make me do a lot of the ABC card handouts because he said people felt sorry for kids more. I remember being so humiliated because we had to knock on car windows if we saw a person sitting inside and waiting in the parking lot. Most of the time we would get spare change or a few bucks. Sometimes there were generous souls. I remember what a huge excitement and relief it was if someone handed us more than we expected! It was a Disneyland kind of joy.

We went to the Salvation Army many times when they had food for the needy. As a girl, I lined up with hundreds of homeless men and women to get food and clothing. I have memories of them being the kindest people I have ever met. They would always let us go first because we were children. One of them dressed like a poor Santa and brightened up my day! I am tearing up as I write this because they are amazing people with the biggest hearts.

I see people ignoring them as they drive by those people. I can recognize the look in their eyes and their soul is weary. I remember that feeling where it's constantly about survival and how we needed anything to get a meal and some comfort. I remember that feeling how it seemed like everybody in the world had it all, going shopping, driving to the fast food drive through, getting in their fancy cars and we couldn't even afford the smallest thing.

God blessed our family when he finally got us out of that life after ten years. He gave us a step dad, a new house and I had my very own room. These were the things I had always dreamed of. I got to go to the same school and live in the same town for longer than two months. I got to feel like a kid for a few short years but I am grateful.

Many homeless people will never get that chance. Many die from exposure every day. They freeze to death and they starve to death. God has called us to help those in need and to give from our hearts. There is a passage in the Bible where the Lord separates the sheep from the goat and gives the glory to the sheep for helping him. The sheep ask him when they did these things. He replied,

"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Matthew 25:40

And the Bible tells us that God will bless us and we will not lack anything if we give to the poor.

"He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse." Proverbs 28:27

My mother and I are starting a new ministry to help the homeless. We want to crochet as many blankets as we can by next winter to give out to the homeless to endure the cold. If you want to be involved, you can follow the pattern on the website, Needles for the Needy, and send in your own blankets! If you cannot crochet, then we could use yarns and donations to help the women have more yarn to make more blankets.

You can be involved to help the needy from a smile in their direction, helping in shelters, raising money to help shelters, bringing a bag of food to someone, and it can be many things. I hope I can encourage you all to be involved somehow.

"She stretcheth out her hand to the poor, yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy." Proverbs 30:20

Charlene is a deaf mom of two boys, one being hard of hearing. Her heart for God shines through her life and she has the 'law of kindness' in her words. She writes for AGMinistries, and you can read more about her at 'Bring on the Rain'.