River City Connections—2026-07-18 (Patreon)

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SYSTEM OF GROWTH by Cindi Curtis Allen

I just came in from the garden, and I am standing in the kitchen with one very pretty bell pepper and one very sweaty version of myself.

It is already in the 80s here in Bartlett, and we are headed toward the mid-90s. For my Celsius friends, that means we are already around 29°C and headed toward “why does the air feel like soup?” which is roughly 35°C.

This morning, I noticed one of the cucumber vines had a beautiful cucumber hanging on, and then I saw a honey bee working one of the yellow blooms.

That is the whole sermon right there.

For garden plants to survive, they need good soil, water, and sunlight. You can do a lot with those three things. Good soil gives roots somewhere healthy to grow. Water keeps the plant from shutting down in the heat. Sunlight gives the plant energy to keep reaching.

But for many garden plants to produce fruit, they need pollination.

The flower has to become something more than a flower. Pollen has to move. Bees, butterflies, moths, wasps, flies, beetles, and even the wind all play their parts. Without pollinators, a healthy-looking plant can bloom and bloom and still never give you the cucumber, pepper, tomato, squash, melon, or berry you are hoping for.

That should make us humble.

Pollinators are threatened by habitat loss, pesticide use, disease, extreme weather, and the steady removal of wild spaces where they can feed, nest, and recover.

We do not have to own acres to help. Plant flowers that bloom at different times.

Avoid spraying pesticides when blooms are open.

Leave a few messy corners.

Grow native plants.

Give pollinators food, water, and shelter instead of treating every insect like an enemy.

I want to close with Psalm 104:24 NIV: “How many are your works, LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.”

That includes the cucumber vine.

That includes the bee.

That includes the tiny systems God built that keep feeding us even when we forget to notice them.

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