Seeds, stakes, and nurturing yield a rich harvest of tomatoes. They can also yield a rich harvest in lives when planted by words in hearts.
WORDS ~ They’ve been on my mind a lot lately. I heard a few powerful, provocative statements that got me once again pondering their impact.
Words as seeds, words as investment, words like a stake in the ground that we shove into the earth, stake our claim and say “Upon THIS belief I plant myself.” Then like the center pole of a merry-go-round, we proceed to live out our moments, our days, and our decisions around that principle.
Robin W. Pearson is a mom and fellow author. She homeschools her 7 children. (I’m imagining Laura Ingalls Wilder’s one-room schoolhouse.) Recently Robin wrote about listening to an educational show on the mysteries of the Bible where “scholars, theologians, and experts” basically contradicted much of Scripture in “authoritative” voices. Robin pondered the impact of such scholars on children, asking, “How might they influence those tender hearts while they’re busy steering their seeking minds?”
Legitimate concern about the types of seeds planted.
Another vignette: After years of answering “Why…?” questions, instruction on living by God’s priorities, and modeling God’s empowering despite one’s feelings, a parent receives a gift of simple words strung together, “Where do you think I learned that? … From you!”
Or one’s heart fills with hope for the future hearing, “Next time we come here, we should …”
Bountiful harvest of seeds planted.
Condoleezza Rice recently shared a story that demonstrates the planting of seeds. She grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. One election day, she and her father were driving and discussing the candidates and election results. Referring to George Wallace, she said “Surely we aren’t going to elect a segregationist like that.”
Her dad said that it appeared Wallace would be elected.
As they passed a line of blacks waiting to enter a polling place and vote, she asked, “Then why do those people even bother?”
“Because they know someday their vote will count.”
Powerful harvest shared.
Proverbs 25:11 equates well-spoken words to precious metals. What words have been seeds someone planted in your life? What words might be a stake for you?
As a mom of seven, I’m constantly considering the weight of my words: will they burden my little people, making them focus on my expectations rather than God’s, or will they lighten their load, giving them hope, direction, and support to help them grow in their faith? We parents are ever planting seeds, aren’t we? But “…neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” (1 Corinthians 3:7) Thanks, Mary Kay! Keep sowing.
So true, Robin. “We parents are ever planting seeds.” God bless you for realizing the impact of those words and purposing to make them a positive influence in your children’s lives. I ache knowing that some of my early parenting was without the help of God’s wisdom. But as we’re reminded ~ He can redeem even our words! Praise Him!
I’m thinking we will both keep sowing. 🙂