Wimpy Harvest, Bountiful Lessons

Last spring I had this urge to plant a garden with Rebekah. When I was growing up, we always had a garden. The ten years we lived in the Midwest, I always had a garden. The older kids had all experienced the miracle of planting and harvesting.

There was a small patch of dirt where we had just removed the gravel. It was horrible, rocky soil. There wasn’t a lot of sun. But, I was determined to give her the experience of planting seeds and watching them grow. About a week after my surgery, I was out breaking up dirt clods, sifting out mountains of rocks with an old wire french fry basket, and trying to make it possible to LIVE Science and creation, not just talk about it.

We planted spinach, radishes, sugar snap peas, carrots, miniature pumpkins and gourds. In another spot I thought had a lot of sun, we planted green peppers, miniature Indian corn and corn. We had a lot of fun planting. When Beka saw the first little green leaves poking through the ground, her enthusiam caught up with mine.

We ate some spinach, some radishes, a few measly peas, then waited….

and waited…..

and waited…..

and waited…..

for the fall crops to mature.

Finally, the long-awaited harvest. The gourds for fall decorating were the only things ready.

All four of them. I sent Rebekah for a basket for gathering our “bounty”. She chose this vintage pop bottle holder. She has good taste.

Not a bountiful harvest, but a harvest. We were content. I was especially thrilled that she had been able to complete a project. We planted and we harvested. The cycle was complete.

Today in Sunday School, I was teaching about Creation, emphasizing that all plants, animals and humans were given seed to reproduce more of its own kind.

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Apples have seeds within them to grow more apple trees.

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Oranges have seeds within them to grow more orange trees.

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I gave many illustrations but was interrupted by one of my students, whose grandfather has taught her the Bible so well she can correct me or add detail I may have left out. (I LOVE this – it is SO encouraging to me as a Mom and Gramma) But, today she added a detail I hadn’t counted on talking about.

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“And women have the seed within them to make more children.”

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“Yes, Kayla, they do. Thank you for sharing that.” I thought I would keep talking about vegetables, before the kids felt the need to expound on human reproduction.

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I told them the Lord created a beautiful cycle for life. If He had created the entire world without seed, at the end of the lifespan of each living thing, they would have disappeared. Instead, every living thing contains seed, and each seed holds the promise of new life.

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In Luke 8, the Lord tells a parable about reaping and sowing, but explains to His confused listeners, “The seed is the Word of God.”

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While we enjoy, behold, explore, photograph, smell, touch, and adore the created world, it is preaching this message as the cycle of life continues.

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If I plant vegetable seeds in the soil with my daughter, it will grow fruit. I can’t harvest without planting.

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If I plant the Word of God in the soil of my daughter’s heart, it will grow fruit. I can’t harvest without planting.

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I just need to keep planting the Word of God in the soil of my children’s hearts, so I can experience that miracle of reaping and sowing. I’m just diligently praying that my spiritual harvest is more bountiful than my wimpy gourd harvest.