Planting Seeds

January is coming to an end. February is lurking around waiting to be seen. What is there to look forward to?

Groundhog Day? That miserable little rodent gets yanked from a stump out into the cold to "tell" people whether or not he saw his shadow. Poor thing. Most of the time Phil says 6 more weeks of Winter. I bet if they would let him sleep in until March 2nd he would be in a better mood & say that Spring will be coming soon.

Valentine's Day? Ahhh, love....The day where people express their love & affection toward family & friends through gifts & cards.

Presidents Day? Does anyone know why we have this holiday other than for furniture sales & to get a long weekend off for school? Homeschoolers usually don't take off this holiday.

I look forward to the seed catalogs! I love to sit & thumb through all the beautiful pictures of the flowers, vegetables & fruits. Oh how I wish they would be scratch & sniff pictures. I daydream about having my garden bursting with such splendor. I'll sit with pen & paper writing my wish list. Do I want pole beans or bush beans this year? Should I try the new purple tomato variety? What color flowers are missing in the front beds? I wonder if Hubby will let me make the garden bigger this year just to accommodate my fancy? What if I tell him it's for planting french fries (potatoes)? Grapes on the hill.......

My garden last year.

There is just something about getting your hands dirty. The smell of potential when the dirt gets turned over for a new season of planting. Seeing the neat rows marked for seedlings. This kinda stuff will do wonders for your soul. God knew this before he created this planet. The first occupation given to man was to be a  farmer.

"Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed." - Gen. 2:8

Here at the Organized Chaos household, Spring planting starts with little paper pots, potting soil, seeds of all kinds & my 2 helpers. I like to share my passion of growing with my children. We like to make a mess filling the pots & put little promising seeds in them. This counts as school. This is also a life lesson. We talk about what the seeds will end up being when they're grow: tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers or sauerkraut. Okay, first a cabbage then sauerkraut.

The only problem I have with planting seeds is waiting. Ugh. How I hate waiting. I want instant results of my effort. I want to see little green shouts the next day. Some seeds germinate quickly after 3 or 4 days. Some take 2 weeks! Then there are the seeds that fail to grow. This is frustrating. There are seeds which I have counted as loss & seen them come to life well after the others.

I try to plant "seeds" in my kids. Seeds of love, hope, gratefulness, joy, gentleness, self-discipline, diligence, respect & courage. Some seeds sprout instantly. I immediately get to see the fruits of my labor. Then there are the seeds that I may never see blossom. All I can do as a parent is plant the seeds, water them & nurture them. Only God can cause seeds to grow. The exclusive way to fertilize these seeds is to pray. Then I let God handle the planted hearts.

Do yourself a favor this winter: plant some seeds. Plant some seeds to harvest in the summer. Plant seeds in your children's hearts. If this season of life doesn't have you with children, plant seeds in your own heart. Ask the Master Gardener what kind of seeds you should be planting. Check out His catalog, the Bible. There are all kinds of seed varieties in there. Don't forget to fertilize you seeds with lots of prayer.