Planting the Seed

When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you set in place, what are people that you should think about them, mere mortals that you should care for them?  Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.  Psalm 8:3-5 (NLT)

The other evening while getting a massage, if you read my earlier post, you know that ten million thoughts were rolling around in my head.  I was thinking about church camp and the kids there.  It's always so hard to leave church camp and wonder how some of those kids will do upon their return home.  It amazes me that so many of those kids have really crummy lives.  I don't mean my-life-stinks-'cause-I-don't-have-the-latest-game-system crummy, I mean crummy real-life stuff.  Adult stuff that little kids live with.  Stuff I don't even want to think about at my age.

I believe there were five campers there who have had one parent commit suicide in the last two years.  FIVE.  Five moms or dads ended their lives forever leaving behind a child...who probably at some point will blame his or herself for it. I know we had some in foster home situations.  There were a couple kids whose parents had at one point in their children's lifetimes been in prison for drugs...(and thankfully, I know that at least two of those situations have come out with a positive ending!)  When I asked one little girl where her three cousins were that have been there the past three years, she told me without batting an eye, in the most matter-of-fact tone possible, that the oldest boy got in trouble for touching her in bad places.  Oh my goodness.

My daughter got fairly close with a girl who lives in foster care.  She cannot live with her mother and has been in two different homes this past year.  I think it really blew Madolyn's mind.  I reminded her that no matter how bad she thinks her life is, there are many out there with real messes.  She is a lucky girl whether she wants to believe it or not.

I thought about how there are some kids that, quite frankly, by the end of the week (or the end of the first afternoon) I seriously wanted to wring their little necks and send them home because they were annoying or mean or disrespectful, etc, but upon hearing their story...my heart was softened.  I realized there was so much more behind their misbehavior.  A few times during the week I thought, "Hmm, I wonder if this kid will ever turn out okay," or sadly even, "This one doesn't have a chance."

The Sunday after church camp I was reading our church's little devotional, These Days, and I absolutely loved the daily devotion for that day.  It was entitled "Planting Seeds of Hope." The author had quoted a church's purpose: "Through Jesus Christ, planting seeds of hope, branching out in faith, bearing fruit in love...All for the Glory of God!"  Don't you love that? 

We serve a God that can perform mighty miracles.  I mean, this guy created everything in seven days.  Surely, He can save a troublesome child from anything, can't He?  Why should I believe that one little boy or little girl is beyond saving when Jesus fed 5000+ with two fish and five loaves, when He made the blind see, or brought the dead to life? 

Our job, whether we're serving in a church, school, at a church camp, in a shelter or just in parenting is to plant the seed.  Just like a farmer or a gardener tends to their crop, we must prepare the soil, plant the seed, weed and fertilize.  If we plant a seed and never again return to nurture it, what happens?  Will the plant grow?  Will weeds take over and choke out the plant?  Will it produce any crop?  A farmer or gardener returns time and time again to their field or garden to check on their crop, observe the growth, fertilize the plant, and tend to the soil.  Time is invested and eventually the reward comes.  And the cool thing is that one seed can then multiply!

So we press on with those kids that we may be afraid won't have a chance, we do what we can do in our capacity to plant the seed, take the extra time to weed and fertilize so that God, who is capable of all things, can do the rest.  I may not be around those kids but one week a year, but I can pray for them every day.  I have to remember not to take it completely upon myself, but also to trust and rely on God's help in the process.  It's not my job to try and perform a miracle if one is needed.  God uses all kinds of situations for his purpose and glory, even when they are beyond our comprehension. 

Lord, help me not to consider anyone beyond saving...but help me to do what I can to plant the seed and nurture it.