God the Grower

 

    So many times as a wife and mother (or anyone for that matter) we wonder if our words fall on deaf ears. The sheer volume of things we say on a daily basis can be mind boggling. Yet we must have faith, that these seeds we are planting will at some point reach fertile soil and bring fruit in due season. We must remember we only do the planting but God does the growing.

One of the best opportunities I had to explain this was to my grandson last summer. Our community has a community garden and we decided to try our hand at growing some produce. Some of the things we planted were root vegetables, their growth not clearly visible. I was able to share the lesson that just because we don't directly see something doesn't mean God's not working on it. Just like our words, he will make sure the message of our heart achieves His purpose in His timing. It brought back memories of my own sons gardening experience. When he was about my grandsons age I let both he and my daughter choose what they wanted to plant in our garden. My daughter chose watermelon and my son chose potatoes. The whole summer he whined about his potatoes. Why is hers growing and not mine he would ask. Yours are growing under the ground. When it's time we will dig them up. At the end of the season we dug up those potatoes and enjoyed them as a side dish with dinner.

    Many times we complicate things. I’ve learned over the years to pare down the message, to focus on the most imperative point and let God do the rest. Today Jesus reminds us of this simplicity in His message to the disciples. The Our Father is the most important, most complete prayer. It is not the amount of words we use but the frequency with which we turn to God in all matters big and small throughout our days that matter.