You are a farmer. What lies dormant inside you?

Dormancy is a time when growth and physical activity are temporarily stopped. We are all gifted in numerous ways. Those gifts are deposited inside of us much like seeds; seeds that in the right conditions will grow and flourish. Seeds can remain dormant for a very long time. I understand that the oldest seed to remain ungerminated was 2,000 years old!

Seeds come in various shapes and sizes. The largest seed, found on two of the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean can be as large as 50 pounds. They may take up to 10 years to develop.  Seeds from the epiphytic orchids are considered the smallest seeds in the world. One seed weighs 1/35,000,000th of an ounce. One thing that seeds have in common is their ability to reproduce, to make more like them. The purpose of all seeds is reproduction.

When the seed is placed in good soil it takes up the nutrients it needs and begins to grow. Roots begin to grow downward to find moisture and a shoot begins to seek out light and air. The seed can be in an upside down position and yet it will find the way downward for soil and upwards for light. When the right conditions exist it will press through to reproduce itself.

Once in my fifth grade class we used a wet paper towel a plastic baggie and a lima bean seed to observe how seeds grow. The seeds were nestled inside the wet paper towel; the baggie was left open to allow air inside it.  We put some of the seeded baggies in a well-lit location and others inside a dark cupboard with no light. We would then check on the seeds and record what happened. This experiment began sometime during the middle of the week. When I returned to the classroom on the following Monday one seed left inside a cupboard had pressed its way out of the closed cupboard and its shoot and leaves were peeking through a small crack (in the now opened door), soaking up the light! This seed was fighting to, and succeeding at reproducing itself!

More dormant seeds are inside of you, those of creativity, beautiful expression and love, are inside of you. They were deposited there by our heavenly Father long ago. They take various amounts of time to germinate and develop. Once they are in the right conditions they will fight to reproduce our parent.

These seeds, when germinated will bring more love into your life. It can be painting, photography, gardening, sailing, baking, carpentry, writing greeting cards, visiting the sick, rocking babies, teaching, mentoring, and the list goes on and on. Whatever you do (because love is an action word) to improve your life (your sense of well-being) or the lives of others, is a gift, a seed. When God gave you those gifts they were placed within you to come forward at different times. I believe that part of our responsibility as we move along this journey is to unwrap the gifts inside of us. Placing them in the good soil that will allow them to grow to be mature is up to each of us. They can stay in the sealed dark cupboard or be placed where they will be exposed to the marvelous light.

Recently someone said to me, “What is it that my mind wants me to do? Besides being a mother or wife or any other roles, what is in there for me to do?” How would you answer that kind question for yourself? What is it that you feel deeply in your heart that you want to do? Is there something you have liked doing and not yet found the time to get done? What is that something that nurtures you beyond words, something that when you begin you lose track of time, becoming totally recharged when you finish? If so, you are probably on the path to exposing one of those seeds to light. When you deliberately nurture it you love our heavenly Father. You love yourself. The word tells that we love Him when we follow His commands. (See John 14:15 and 1John 5:3) He has commanded us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

Do you love yourself? What evidence is present in your life of that love? What clues could a novice detective find in your life that shows that you have love for yourself? What clues that you love God? Do you have more dormant seeds than those being reproduced?

According to Genesis 8:22 As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,
summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” (NIV)

Seed, time and harvest; Take Inventory and Take Action! Get those seeds fed; reproduce the Father and His love!

Let me know if you need some help getting those seeds into good soil!

Love,

Deborah

“Lighting the path to loving your neighbor as yourself.”