The Thirty-Nine Year Old Seeds

NOTE:  This is my husband’s story.  These are his words as spoken to me and as written in his journal.  There are pieces he asked me not to share.  What I am writing today, I am sharing at my husband’s request. 

This past Sunday our pastor began a series entitled “Grow”.  Last Sunday several of his words stood out for me, but one phrase stuck with me.  “Grow up!”

Sunday morning, I arrived home after my husband and found him sitting at the breakfast room table with an open bible and a notebook.  He was busily writing.  He glanced up and said quickly, “God is downloading some stuff to me.”

“Alright”, I said.  “I’ll go change and let y’all visit for a bit.  When He gets done talking, you can tell me about it if you want and then we can go eat brunch.”  I walked to the back of the house.

When I came back in, he was still writing, so I sat quietly in the living room.  After a bit, he rose from the table with tear-stained eyes.  He looked at me.  “God is so cool.  It’s amazing how He puts things in place to speak to His people-to speak to me!”

“Do you remember me telling you about the seeds Mom had?”

“Vaguely.” I replied.

“Well, a few days ago when I went to visit with her, I noticed four little trees growing out of small pots.  I didn’t think much about them at the time, but I noted they looked healthy and had unusual leaves.  I noticed but didn’t say anything to Mom about the plants during our visit. Later, over homemade peach cobble and ice cream, she told me she had been going through some drawers, cleaning out old stuff and found a plastic bag of seeds.  She remembered she had picked them up from the ground once when we were on a family vacation in Cozumel.  Jamie, that was THIRTY-NINE years ago!” 

“She described how beautiful the trees were.  They were covered with bright colorful flowers-bright picks and oranges.  She wanted to see if the trees would grow in our area.  I guess she put them in the drawer and just forgot about them.  You know, she has an amazing green thumb, but was she going to tell me she had planted those 39-year-old seeds?  There’s no way!”

“But she did!  Mom told me she picked out five seeds and decided to soak the seeds in water for a week.  It didn’t look like anything was happening, but she decided to plant them anyway.  She left the plants on her breezeway and a week later they began to grow, grow, grow!”

“Jamie, I was blown away that those seeds which had been put away in a dark drawer for 39 years could even grow.  Well, here is how cool God is: Pastor Gary’s message was entitled ‘GROW’ and they had the word ‘GROW’ in huge letters behind him as he preached.  Ad the service went on I didn’t really think about the seeds or the trees, but Pastor Gary said, ‘Grow, Grow, Grow.’  It was the exact words Mom used and God started speaking to me.”

“The Lord spoke to my heart and said, “Grady, do you see how I put everything together?  Thirty-Nine years ago your mom looked at the beautiful tree I created and was awed by the beauty.  I had her pick up those seeds and bring them home.  Yes, she placed them in a drawer, but those seeds were ordained for this moment.  They weren’t just forgotten; they were being prepared for such a time as this. So, Grady, do I have your attention?”

God continued to speak.

“How many seeds have you allowed to lie dormant over the years?  How many seeds have the people in my church allowed to lie dormant?”

“It is time for my children and my church to find those seeds, soak them in the living water and plant those seeds.  The time is now!  GROW, GROW, GROW!”