Tuesday, November 07, 2006

IOW--Seed Planting

"Just as an inferno begins with but a spark, a field grows vast and plentiful from the sprinkling of seeds"
~ Stephanie Fries ~
Steph's Poetry Corner


I am very blessed. As I look back through generations of my family, there is a strong line of faith. My mother's grandmother taught her about God. My Dad was taught by his parents who were taught by my grandmother's parents who were taught by their parents. I can confirm at least four generations of belief that distilled down into my Dad teaching me. With this quote I've been wondering about the person who taught my great-great-great grandfather about faith in God? Did they have any idea the impact they would have on generations to come? That sharing of the Truth has led to generations of belief. I get to reap the benefit of that. My harvest is sweet because I didn't have to experience a lot of difficulty in coming to Faith. I saw it lived out in front of me, I accepted it as truth and I acted upon it for myself. I am so thankful to the people who planted those early seeds of faith in my family. I am part of their harvest. The harvest was not limited to family either. My great-grandfather was an elder in the church and from what I hear a pillar of a community of faith. My grandmother literally loved hundreds of kids into the kingdom (her children's friends and then her grandchildren's friends). My parents taught Sunday School and impacted the lives of the youth of the church. And, now, the harvest still grows.

I, in turn, have the joy and the responsibility to carry on the harvest. Sitting with Jewel each morning reading a Bible Story and teaching a weekly memory verse that I pray will be the foundation of her faith. I pray that these seeds will grow deep and she will cling to Scripture in the days to come when life gets harder. Taking Jewel and Flower to church, *singing God* together, giving money to God, going to Sunday School and teaching them how to love the body of Christ---seeds we are planting and praying grow into a harvest in their lives. How I live my life today waters those seeds in my children. I pray that a good harvest grows, devoid of weeds that could choke out the Truth. I pray that they will accept Faith in Jesus for themselves and will go on to plant seeds in their friends lives and eventually, if God allows it, their children's lives. The generations of faith continuing from early plantings.

Isn't God good?

For other writer's reflections on this quote visit here:

9 comments:

Camy Tang said...

Wow, that's so awesome. I can't imagine how powerful a legacy that is, to come from such a strong, faithful family. It's making me realize I could have that--influencing my second, third, fourth generations because I came to faith. I think I understand better another aspect of having children. Thanks!

Camy

Anonymous said...

I love your last line, the generations of faith continuing from early plantings. I had very few of those plantings in my life. But I have watched it in others I grew around and know that the plantings sparked a deep fire in my heart! Wonderful posting!

Ame said...

Yes ... God is very, very good :) How beautiful ... so much heritage in God to pass on! Incredible!

Tina said...

Wonderful post, as usual. I had the exact opposite experience, my parents did not plant those seeds so they are ones that I had to seek out on my own. I can only hope that what I am doing now is impacting my children so that they may pass on the beliefs to their own.

Anonymous said...

Yes - God IS good. I think when you teach young - they will turn to Him in the time of need...

But I think we also should reach out to the ones who are not in the family circle..You wondered who told your great-great-great-grandfather about Jesus. Maybe you can be the one who will 'break-into' a new family :)...

Ame said...

btw - this is the kind of family i hope to marry into and bring my kids into so they can experience this kind of love :)

Jaime said...

what a great post. I always look forward to your posts. They always speak to me and deepen my faith.
((HUGS))

CJ said...

That warms my heart. Faith was not a part of my childhood, but I am determined to make it a part of my children's upbringing and I feel I'm doing a decent job. I wish I had been raised in faith, then I wouldn't feel like such an awkward traveller on this journey!

Anonymous said...

What a great thing to pass down from generation to generation. The inheritance of one's faith.