Planting Seeds

   Planting seeds seems to be a theme that keeps coming up, in newletters and articles I have run across; “As you sow, so shall you reap” and “Some sow the seeds and others gather the harvest .” The words are all around me these days. The idea that I am planting seeds, small thoughts and beliefs that will someday grow into a real and active faith and compassion is what I need to hold onto.


   Working as a children’s minister and a youth minister I often have to remind myself about this concept. The work seems long and the rewards, while not few, they are sporadic. There are evenings when I think I should check my forehead for a lump because I have been banging my head against the wall for so long. When a member of the youth group tells a member of the clergy that she doesn’t think the quote, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is from the bible. When a child mentions after singing “Father Abraham” that he knows who Abraham is; he is on the penny. When, within moments of completing a lesson on the last being first and first being last, there is nearly a fist fight to be the first to get the popcorn. These are the times when I think perhaps the seeds have just caught the wind and never even landed, much less taken root.
   But then there are times when I feel redeemed. I feel like the Spirit of God is really among us. When I couldn’t pull the youth group away from hearing stories and working on jigsaw puzzles with the residents of an assisted living apartment. When nine teenagers volunteered without any coercion to get up an hour early during Mission Week so that they could go out and distribute care packages and sandwiches to the homeless, all before a full day of work in the Florida sun. When a seven year old willingly left her known friends and welcomed a new child into her game during children’s church. Those are the times when I am caught off guard and see something of the love we have been trying to teach them all along.

   The seeds of God’s words and commands to love one another are there. Some are just dormant a little longer than others. Some results we will never see. Some results are for others to harvest not us. All parents, grandparents, Sunday school teachers, youth workers and others who touch the lives of children take heart, keep planting the seeds of love, humility, honor, peace, patience, faith and all of the virtues to which we are called. It is the tiny acts of faith, faith in the seeds we are planting and in God’s hand in bringing them to fruition, from which the faith of a new generation will grow.

Michelle