Susandoodles

Recently my daughter and I made a trip to the Missouri Wildflower Nursery in Brazito, Missouri.  This was her first visit, but my second one.

The first trip to the nursery was in the early 1980’s with my mom.  Mom loved nature and worked hard to make sure that native prairies were preserved in her own space.  They began working with the Wallace’s as they established the nursery and Mom added native grasses and flowers to her space.

As we neared the road, I was slowly pulling up the memory of going with Mom.  That trip was like finding a small garden in the middle of a wooded area just off a one-lane gravel road.  No greenhouses, no buildings, no business office.  Just a patch of land being tilled to preserve native grasses and flowers.

This time my daughter was driving and as we started down that gravel road, I realized we passed the field and on down the lane was a much larger operation than I anticipated.  Not just a greenhouse, but buildings, an office, and tables filled with native plants.

We parked, visited with the owner briefly and was given an overview by one of the attendants (who sure could have been a son).  Then off we went to walk the rows.

I could not help but think back to Mom and how passionate she was about wildlife—animals and plants.  And I realized how much seeds are connected to my personal faith journey.

In third grade, Mom and her best friend were my Sunday school teachers.  I cannot remember the specific reason, but the girls in that class were given a mustard seed necklace.  The mustard seed represents the parable in Matthew 13:31-32:

³¹ Here is another illustration Jesus used: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field.³² It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches.”  –NLT

I have that mustard seed still in my jewelry box, but over the years I have returned to that parable and have added other jewelry items with the mustard seed.  I have used it in sermons, I have explained it to confirmation classes, and I continue to believe that even with the faith the size of a mustard seed, we are part of God’s kingdom and the more we nurture that faith the larger it grows.

A bucket list trip to a special nursery, filled my heart and mind with the significance of that lesson, of how important it was for my mom to teach me about faith, and how I look at nature through God’s eyes always loving life, always seeking to learn more, always trying to find ways to grow in faith.

But that is not the end of the reflection.  Earlier this year, I stumbled into a tee shirt that also connects the idea of seeds of faith.  Of course I had to get the green one, but the words state: 

 “a seed of faith grows a garden of hope.”

My faith journey is rooted in the rhythms of nature.  Growing up on a farm, we followed life cycles.  I value the soil, the trees, the weather, and all that it takes to create a harvest whether in a flower garden, a vegetable garden or the fields that surrounded our house.

Therefore, I think that the mustard seed parable speaks to me and helps me develop my own faith.  I also know that as a Christian, I see my faith and sharing my faith is a way to plant seeds of faith in others.

Then as I grew into ministry, I learned how to grow faith.  And as my ministry shifted, I realize that planting seeds of faith takes just as much nurturing as a seed that drops onto the bare ground.  

Just as a flower or vegetable plant or even a field can fail without proper care, so can one’s faith.  Maybe that is one reason I consider myself a Methodist.  

John Wesley wanted everybody to know Jesus, to know unconditional love, to accept God’s grace, and to serve one another.  

In my experience, I find the seeds of faith can be as tiny as a shared smile, a thank you, a shared cookie, a quick message, or a flash prayer as I hear sirens racing along the roads.

Wesley asked his followers to live their faith out loud.  We are to see where God’s love is needed, and we are to do whatever we can to spread that love.  These are the seeds of faith we plant in our world.

To nurture those seeds, and to be the planters of faith, we need to nourish our own faith, too.  We need to study scripture even if only a verse or two a day.  We need to pray, to talk with God.  We need to be in fellowship with other Christians.  We need to worship.  We need to share in communion at God’s table.

If we do not nurture our own faith garden, then we go into a drought.  Just as we experience the current summer drought in our world, we can suffer without the living water Jesus provides us.  If we wither in our faith, we cannot plant seeds of faith in our world.

My faith journey began with a family that nurtured my seed of faith.  That tiny mustard seed grew.  I have faced droughts, but others were always present to water my faith garden. 

My prayer is that I have planted seeds of faith in others, that I have watered other’s faith gardens, and that God is there for me even during droughts just as He is for each and every one who has discovered a seed of faith has sprouted within their lives.

Dear Master Gardener,

Thank you for those in our lives.

   who plant even the tiniest seeds of faith.

Thank you for the gardeners of faith,

   who you gifted with the green thumb

   nurturing those seeds of faith.

Thank you for the communities of faith,

   who create delightful gardens

   living that all may know Jesus.

Guide each of us to grow our faith,

   so we may do all that you call us to do.

Guide your gardeners to see the drought,

   that others are facing so we can help.

Guide us to use the gifts you provide,

   to work together nurturing your global garden.

In the days we experience fear,

   fuel us with hope.

In the days we wilt from stress,

   rain your love and grace down upon us.

And on the days, we are weary,

   brighten us with the glory of you Son 

  shining through our fellow Christians.

In your son Jesus Christ’s name we pray, amen.