Attention houseplants and vegetation: Enter at your own risk.
I do NOT have a green thumb. You have been warned.
My inability to grow plants and keep them alive for extended periods of time is not for lack effort. (Ok, maybe a little lack of effort- or lack of remember to water them regularly.) It is mainly a lack of knowledge. Know-how. Skill. I just don’t have “the gift.”
We currently have four plants in our kitchen… Enrique the spider plant has been with me the longest (His 4th “birthday” is coming up in a week or so. At least I think. Ish.) Chloe the peace lily has been around for about 3 years. Eleanor the aloe plant has resided in our kitchen for about a year and a half. We have a recent addition to our plant family still nameless. (Name suggestions anyone?)
Perhaps you are impressed with the longevity of my sweet plant population. Please don’t be. These are the lucky few that were the strongest… many of their counterparts have not met such a lucky fate. And honestly, these plants have had their close calls as well.
Enrique the spider plant… Still going strong (A testimony of God’s miracles. Seriously.)
Fortunately, God has not called me (or my husband for that matter) to be thriving, successful horticulturists, growing acres of healthy, attractive vegetation. (WHEW!)
However… He has called us to plant and grow seeds of a different kind– those seeds that share His never-ending and abundant love.
We do this through a movement within this ministry called “Factor of 7.” (Read all about it here.) Our “Factor of 7” for August and September was kind of confidential, which is why you haven’t heard much about it as of late. However, God gave us a pretty sweet opportunity to re-engage Factor of 7 at a youth group gathering at Seeds of Faith church in Lester, IA on October 28th.
Here’s what went down…
You remember that I was blessed to preach at two churches that morning, Seeds of Faith being one of them. At the conclusion of the second service, a church member approached me. Sandy told us that the youth group speaker that they had scheduled for the evening had canceled… Would we be willing to help them out??
My mouth dropped open (I know this, because she laughed at my expression.) I had just got done preaching twice. We had a baby shower scheduled for that afternoon. Obviously we had nothing prepared and about 6 hrs to make it happen. I had gotten up at 2:30am CST the day before to get to the airport. Honestly, my flesh was telling me to say, “Thanks but no thanks.”
However, God told me YES. So that’s what I said. YES.
I voluntold my husband we were team teaching that night (why should HE get to miss out on the fun?) and between guests, gifts, cupcakes and snacks, we prayed and planned to share our hearts with the youth of Seeds of Faith.
Long story still long– it was AWESOME. God showed up (as He often tends to do.) Seeds were planted as we shared part of our testimonies, told about our ministry and our Factor of 7 movement as well as showed them our Real Warriors for Christ vlog. Our main point was from James 2:26: “FAITH WITHOUT ACTION IS DEAD.”
As we ended, we included them in our October Factor of 7. Although it wasn’t much, we were able to scrounge up some small candy bars/Halloween candy. We gave them each a piece and asked for their first name and how we could pray for them.
I have never heard a group of teenagers (and parents) so quiet in my life. God’s power was felt there in that sanctuary. It was incredible.
How have you shared God’s love with someone lately? Are you planting seeds or just waiting for the harvest? How can you get creative in your everyday walk and invite God to work powerfully in your life? (As usual, feel free to comment below.)
You don’t have to be a “professional” when it comes to planting seeds of God’s love. God doesn’t need your ability– just your AVAILABILITY. It only takes a little love and faith the size of a mustard seed to get started.
The ground is ready– God is waiting for you to make the first move and start planting a few seeds of faith.
Growing in Him,
SGK
“We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.” ~2 Thessalonians 1:3 (NIV)
