Little Seed

I had a little seed. I buried the seed in some dirt. Seeds are supposed to grow, so I assumed that it would grow. Days went by, then weeks, then months went by, and the dirt did not change. So I talked to the seed, “Please grow, little seed. I really want to see what you can become.” But nothing happened. So then I prayed, “God, please make the seed grow into something.” This I knew would work. But it didn’t. Then, miraculously, something did happen. Something did begin to grow in the dirt. But it was not growing from the seed. It was a weed. As more weeks went by, a few more weeds grew, but the seed did not produce. Now I was having to work hard, pulling weeds just to keep the dirt free from them, but nothing grew from the seed. What a waste, I thought, all this work just trying to maintain the status quo, and no fruit. Then I decided, well, I’m already having to work at this… I’ll try to help the seed. So I started to add water to the dirt. Every day I pulled weeds and added water, and asked God to make the seed grow. The days went by and turned to weeks. People started to ask me why I was wasting so much time on this seed. “Are you sure it’s worth it, they asked?” I replied, “Not totally sure, but now I am accustomed to the work.” Then one day, it happened! A little hint of green from the seed peeked through the dirt. Finally! I decided my work was done. I stopped watering, stopped weeding, and stopped praying. Would you believe that the seed stopped growing? That little hint of green, that promise of rich fruit, just stayed stagnant. And the weeds kept growing around it like crazy. Now the people started to ask, “Why did you stop working?” I had no good reason. I wanted to see the fruit grow. I wanted other people to see the fruit. I wanted to believe that the faithful work was not for naught, and I wanted others to believe the same. But now I was busy with other things and did not have time to water and weed. So I prayed, “God, please help the little seed to keep growing.” Days went by, weeks went by, and nothing changed. Just more weeds. Finally, I decided that I must make time for the work. I made time every day to pull the weeds, to water the seed, and to pray for God to make it grow. And would you believe it actually did? The seed produced so much fruit that I could feed others around me that did not have seeds. Everyone began to talk, exclaiming of this great fruit. When they realized that work and prayer together could make seeds grow, they all began to plant seeds. Some grew weary of the watering and weed-pulling, but some pressed on and continued to pray for results. As for me, I was convinced - pulling weeds, watering, and praying for God’s help were a small price to pay for the rich and abundant fruit.

Who was Michael Cave?

Who was Michael Cave? The short answer: He was a teenager in Augusta, GA. He got sick 12 days ago, was unconscious within a few days, and he died 8 days ago. I didn’t know Michael. I saw his name and his picture on Facebook the week that he was sick. Many were praying for him that week, for his healing and recovery. The day after Michael died, I ran into his youth pastor in Augusta. Along with the harsh reality of Michael’s death, he proclaimed with confidence the glorious truth about Michael, “He is 100% healed. He’s with Jesus.” This was not a trite statement, not an empty catch-phrase said to bring false comfort, it was and is the truth, the reality of a promise that even most believers in Jesus have a hard time grasping. Michael was a believer in Jesus, and his family asked their pastor to share one thing with their church family 2 days after his death: He had no time. He got sick, and then he was unconscious before anyone knew what was happening. He had no time to ask questions of God, to wrestle with God, to decide once and for all if he would believe in this God and in His son Jesus. Thankfully, he had already made this choice. I am sharing this brief story because the question I started with, “Who was Michael Cave?” is the wrong question, though I have no doubt he was a great person and will be dearly missed. The right question for me and for us all is, “Who is Michael Cave’s God?”

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.” -Isaiah 40:28

Life and Tents

I went camping this summer, for the first time in a long time. I drove up to the campsite with a co-worker of mine, while her husband and my boyfriend had driven up earlier to go biking in the woods. When we arrived, the guys were still out biking and by the text messages they sent, they were really tired and worn out. So while we waited, we decided to serve the guys by putting up the tents so they wouldn't need to do so after such a hard ride. Laura encouraged me to put David's tent up without her so that when he got back I could impress him with my tent skills. So I worked and worked and managed to erect all of the pieces into this structure:

Unfortunately, the tent is actually supposed to look more like this (credit Sierra Designs):

Hmmm, showing off my tent skills was not really working out well at all! Lucky for me, the campsite right next to us had a nearly identical tent, so I was able to see the end product, start over, and have the tent in pretty good shape when the guys returned.

It's amazing the difference it makes when we have a picture of what the end goal is as we are working towards it. In all of life, whether it be in school, our work, competitive sports, relationships, or simply getting from day to day.... if we just have a picture in mind of what the goal is, the chances of creating a ridiculous and unusable tent are much lower :) So the next time you find yourself frustrated and disappointed with the tents you are contsructing in life, take a step back and look around... See if you can spot a tent to model yours after.