#ThisIsMotherhood | No. 4 | Planting Seeds is Messy Work
I’ve always dreamed of having a garden- spending the late summer nights with my hands in the dirt, watching the tiny seeds as they grow and the joy of gathering around the table to enjoy each harvest. When we first moved into our house, I had a vision for exactly where my garden would go and I couldn’t wait for my gardening dreams to come to fruition. Then, when our prayers were answered and we found out we were pregnant with a baby boy, that dream grew from mine to ours, with a hope that someday his tiny hands would join me as we would cultivate and celebrate our garden together.
With the arrival of spring, the time has come to plant seeds and plan out our garden for the season ahead. This is the first year of planting with the help of his tiny hands and what I’ve already learned from planting seeds in our started pots is that planting seeds with children is messy work. Even if you think you’ve planned for all the things that could happen, made space for your child to play and explore, and guided them in how-to plant each tiny seed, the reality is that planting is messy, joyful and unexpected work. But regardless of the mess, we can trust that the seeds we plant will take root and grow with a little sunshine and water.
And as I was cleaning up that day, with dirt everywhere and seeds scattered about, God laid this on my heart- this a picture of motherhood, the messy, joyful, unexpected work of planting tiny seeds of faith in the hearts of our children. As mamas, our heart and prayer is that our children would come to know the saving faith of Jesus Christ and walk each day in relationship with Him. We are fervently praying and trying our very best to plant seeds in the messy, joyful and unexpected work of motherhood, because our love for them in unexplainable. But, I wonder if we are holding something that was never ours to carry?
I (Paul) planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
1 Corinthians 3:6-7
As we do this work of motherhood, God delights and is honored by our hearts to raise up our children in faith, but, all that God asks us to do is abide in Him. As we abide, we will seek Him to plant seeds, follow His lead to discern how to water them and trust that He alone is will bring about the salvation and spiritual growth of our children.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:4-5
The salvation of our children and their spiritual growth was never ours to carry, but God has given us the opportunity to come alongside Him as He makes things grow.
As we seek to plant seeds of faith in the hearts of our children, it can often feel like blind obedience, just like in a garden, never knowing which of the seeds that we’ve planted will take root and grow. As mamas, we will never know the moment when our children will receive the gospel into their hearts, but the more we are in Christ, the more He flows out of us, and our testimony of declaring who He is, what He’s done and what He’s promised in and over our own lives is the most vivid picture our children will ever witness of just how kind, loving and gracious of our Savior is.
Mama, I pray that these words are encouragement and freedom for your soul today- encouragement to receive Christ and press into Him and freedom to trust Him as He will make things grow in His perfect timing. Let’s keep praying fervently, planting those tiny seeds by taking every opportunity to share of who Christ is, what He’s done and what He’s promised to us with our children, and trust that it is only God who can make things grow. Every little seed matters, even in the mess of motherhood, because Christ is glorified and He will use our messy, weary, broken hearts to shine His light all the more.
For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:5-6
So, while all of #thisismotherhood, the messy, joyful, unexpected work of planting seeds, this weight was never ours to carry. God is inviting us to abide in Him and draw near to His presence. As we seek Him, may our hearts fill with the hope of who He is, what He’s done and what He’s promised for us, and out of that promise, may our lives become a testimony to the goodness and glory of God to your children.
God delights in every ounce of the messy work of motherhood and loves our children beyond what we could ever imagine. I pray that as we seek to raise up our children in faith, may we surrender every longing of our hearts to the hope that never fails in Christ, trusting in the promise of our Savior. May we offer up every moment of our motherhood for God to use in the hearts of our children, because it is God who make things grow.
