The Seedling
by Shelly Thompson
....on a warm Mother’s Day Sunday in May several years ago, my sweet 5-year-old little’s small hands presented me with a present during church. A tiny Pine Tree seedling in a paper cup…
I don’t have a green thumb and raising three young daughters, I didn’t have time to garden or really even do yard work. But God...had a lesson planned.
I knew that the tiny seedling…all scrawny 3 inches of it…would eventually find its way to the garbage. It was so small it didn’t stand a chance to survive and with dishes, laundry, errands, and taking care of three little’s…there was no time to nurture a Pine Tree seedling. I didn’t see the value…
The small paper cup sat on our kitchen counter for about a week…until the seedling turned a tinge of brown. My initial plan to throw the tiny seedling away was somehow thwarted as I found myself unwilling, but at my little’s urging…in the yard planting the tiny, by now dying, Pine Tree seedling.
I didn’t care where I planted it because I knew…it would soon die and be forgotten by both me and my little. I was simply honoring her request…planting a dry little seedling, in an odd and inconspicuous place by our garage…in the ‘way back’ of the yard. To my surprise, it actually took root and began growing. My husband even mowed around it. However, it was so far out of view, even though it had taken root…it still went unnoticed.
We moved about a year later. The seedling was about 12 inches, maybe a little taller. I never really gave that seedling much thought. I still felt it would most likely die. Even after a year, it was growing slowly and still scrawny.
Twenty years passed and I drove by that old house.
And there, in an ‘odd spot’ by the garage…
‘Way back’ in the yard…
Was one of the BIGGEST Evergreen Trees in the neighborhood…
It towered way over the garage…
It was massive as it stretched towards the sky…
The circumference of the Evergreen Tree was huge…
The branches were full of color and healthy…
The little Pine Tree seedling…which was really an Evergreen Tree…had grown in 24 long years to a big, beautiful Evergreen Tree. I was really surprised and my mind went back to the day we planted the little seedling. Then I learned some valuable lessons from that tiny seedling...
...I didn’t recognize the tiny Pine Tree seedling was actually an Evergreen Tree…we often don’t recognize what God is doing. His ways are so much higher than our ways…we simply don’t understand what He’s doing…until we begin in earnest seeking Him and His instruction…then we can begin to recognize an Evergreen Tree from a Pine Tree.
...our expectations are incredibly small…if we don’t see a way…we don’t believe. We don’t have faith that a tiny seedling can grow into a massive tree…we find ourselves simply going through the motions (like planting a seedling expecting it to die!)…without any expectations…we don’t believe that God is fully capable of doing ANYTHING…after all He IS GOD!
...God’s plans take time…sometimes years…to grow…to mature…to be fully revealed…we are impatient. Because of our lack of patience, we plant things halfheartedly, in an ‘odd spot’, way back…setting our hearts and minds on the outcome we expect…rather than having the faith that God can do anything beyond what we can imagine or even ask for.
...like the brown tinged seedling, we sometimes see our dreams dying…so we bury them…‘way back’ in our minds…BUT GOD brings things back to life and gives things life…His power is unlimited. We are never to give up on what God instructs us to do. The results can take years, but what we receive is worth the wait.
...the little seedling buried its roots in a firm foundation; it grew…and grew…because its roots were secure in a foundation that gave it life. We too can have a firm foundation by reading God’s word and spending time getting to know Him. When we do that our faith will grow…and grow…and grow...because our roots are secure in a firm foundation...getting well-watered and nurtured.
...we don’t need what we consider perfect circumstances to give us opportunities for growth. In fact, it’s the times of struggle and getting planted in an ‘odd spot’, ‘way out back’ from everything we’ve planned…that God reveals Himself to us.
...we often don’t see the value of the little seeds God is planting in our hearts…or the seeds He asks us to plant in lives of others…but, He does. He sees what He will grow out of all the planted seedlings…
...that tiny unvalued, unrecognized seedling grew and survived 24 years with seasons of harsh winters, hot summers, times of drought, near misses as a young seedling by our lawnmower… and a family that never gave it a glance as they moved away…yet it survived and thrived. We too will face seasons of harsh realities, dry spells in our lives, abandonment by people, and many things unknown to us…and yet, God never leaves us. He waters our soul when we’re thirsty, He hears our cries in the midst of our pain…He sees everything…everyday…He’s always with us.
Our lives are His seedlings…
He wants us to grow…strong…secure…with a firm foundation…
Our heart is His soil…
To plant a desire to love the Lord with all our heart, with all our strength, and with all our mind…
Then like the tiny seedling…
We will grow…
Reaching upward for the creator in heaven…
And we will know…
Even the smallest seedling is noticed by God. In God’s power…every tiny seedling can survive. Keep growing in faith.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither, whatever he does prospers. Psalms 1:2, 3
I don’t have a green thumb and raising three young daughters, I didn’t have time to garden or really even do yard work. But God...had a lesson planned.
I knew that the tiny seedling…all scrawny 3 inches of it…would eventually find its way to the garbage. It was so small it didn’t stand a chance to survive and with dishes, laundry, errands, and taking care of three little’s…there was no time to nurture a Pine Tree seedling. I didn’t see the value…
The small paper cup sat on our kitchen counter for about a week…until the seedling turned a tinge of brown. My initial plan to throw the tiny seedling away was somehow thwarted as I found myself unwilling, but at my little’s urging…in the yard planting the tiny, by now dying, Pine Tree seedling.
I didn’t care where I planted it because I knew…it would soon die and be forgotten by both me and my little. I was simply honoring her request…planting a dry little seedling, in an odd and inconspicuous place by our garage…in the ‘way back’ of the yard. To my surprise, it actually took root and began growing. My husband even mowed around it. However, it was so far out of view, even though it had taken root…it still went unnoticed.
We moved about a year later. The seedling was about 12 inches, maybe a little taller. I never really gave that seedling much thought. I still felt it would most likely die. Even after a year, it was growing slowly and still scrawny.
Twenty years passed and I drove by that old house.
And there, in an ‘odd spot’ by the garage…
‘Way back’ in the yard…
Was one of the BIGGEST Evergreen Trees in the neighborhood…
It towered way over the garage…
It was massive as it stretched towards the sky…
The circumference of the Evergreen Tree was huge…
The branches were full of color and healthy…
The little Pine Tree seedling…which was really an Evergreen Tree…had grown in 24 long years to a big, beautiful Evergreen Tree. I was really surprised and my mind went back to the day we planted the little seedling. Then I learned some valuable lessons from that tiny seedling...
...I didn’t recognize the tiny Pine Tree seedling was actually an Evergreen Tree…we often don’t recognize what God is doing. His ways are so much higher than our ways…we simply don’t understand what He’s doing…until we begin in earnest seeking Him and His instruction…then we can begin to recognize an Evergreen Tree from a Pine Tree.
...our expectations are incredibly small…if we don’t see a way…we don’t believe. We don’t have faith that a tiny seedling can grow into a massive tree…we find ourselves simply going through the motions (like planting a seedling expecting it to die!)…without any expectations…we don’t believe that God is fully capable of doing ANYTHING…after all He IS GOD!
...God’s plans take time…sometimes years…to grow…to mature…to be fully revealed…we are impatient. Because of our lack of patience, we plant things halfheartedly, in an ‘odd spot’, way back…setting our hearts and minds on the outcome we expect…rather than having the faith that God can do anything beyond what we can imagine or even ask for.
...like the brown tinged seedling, we sometimes see our dreams dying…so we bury them…‘way back’ in our minds…BUT GOD brings things back to life and gives things life…His power is unlimited. We are never to give up on what God instructs us to do. The results can take years, but what we receive is worth the wait.
...the little seedling buried its roots in a firm foundation; it grew…and grew…because its roots were secure in a foundation that gave it life. We too can have a firm foundation by reading God’s word and spending time getting to know Him. When we do that our faith will grow…and grow…and grow...because our roots are secure in a firm foundation...getting well-watered and nurtured.
...we don’t need what we consider perfect circumstances to give us opportunities for growth. In fact, it’s the times of struggle and getting planted in an ‘odd spot’, ‘way out back’ from everything we’ve planned…that God reveals Himself to us.
...we often don’t see the value of the little seeds God is planting in our hearts…or the seeds He asks us to plant in lives of others…but, He does. He sees what He will grow out of all the planted seedlings…
...that tiny unvalued, unrecognized seedling grew and survived 24 years with seasons of harsh winters, hot summers, times of drought, near misses as a young seedling by our lawnmower… and a family that never gave it a glance as they moved away…yet it survived and thrived. We too will face seasons of harsh realities, dry spells in our lives, abandonment by people, and many things unknown to us…and yet, God never leaves us. He waters our soul when we’re thirsty, He hears our cries in the midst of our pain…He sees everything…everyday…He’s always with us.
Our lives are His seedlings…
He wants us to grow…strong…secure…with a firm foundation…
Our heart is His soil…
To plant a desire to love the Lord with all our heart, with all our strength, and with all our mind…
Then like the tiny seedling…
We will grow…
Reaching upward for the creator in heaven…
And we will know…
Even the smallest seedling is noticed by God. In God’s power…every tiny seedling can survive. Keep growing in faith.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither, whatever he does prospers. Psalms 1:2, 3
