I have been meeting every Saturday morning with a group of women.  We are all participating in a bible study where each lesson is paired with a knitting stitch.  I think we are a gaggle of Christian women with a knitting problem.

Any ways ….

Last week’s lesson was to learn to knit the seed stitch … which looks like … uhh … duh … seeds!  The accompanying bible verses and story was about the parable of the sower.  In that parable seeds are scattered on various conditions … the ones that fell on the rocks sprouted and then dried up and died.  There were the seeds that grew and got choked by weeds.  (See below for the entire parable.)

Our little bible study/knitting group talked about how we should be more actively sharing with others what God has done in our lives – sowing seeds!  We agreed that it isn’t always easy.  We also agreed that sometimes it is the little things we say or do – a listening ear, a quiet prayer, a caring hug, a patient response – that are all like little seeds of faith that we plant.  They are seeds that we plant that we may never be witness to the harvest.  It is God who makes those seeds grow.

Today I was invited to join some friends for a lunch at the little café inside Jo Brighton Skills Center.  My daughter Amanda used to attend school at Jo Brighton.  Jo Brighton is a school where special needs kids get the opportunity to learn life skills including food service – hence the café where students help prepare and serve the food.  Amanda was a student at Jo Brighton for more than ten years.  I was a bit emotional to be once again inside that building where I had been so many times before.  The teacher that was assisting with our special waiter had known Amanda and worked with her in the bakery.  I was doing okay emotionally until she told this story:

“I have this great memory of Amanda when I first started working with her in the bakery.  Here she is, this little tiny girl in her wheelchair, when in comes this huge, tall, and wide janitor.  Little Amanda, with all the fervor and speed she could muster, goes wheeling up to this huge guy and parks right in front of him.  There she is, staring straight up at this big guy and she asks him, “Did you do it?  Well, did you?”  Well I walked over to see what it was that Amanda wanted to know from the janitor.  As I approached, Amanda prompted the janitor with “Tell her!” as she motioned towards me, “Tell her what I want to know!”  As I gazed questioningly at the janitor, he hm’d and haw’d a minute and then stated, “She wanted to know if I had gone to church yet.””

That’s when my tears welled up.

Oh my.  My little warrior.  Amanda the David vs this Goliath of a janitor.  How many of us are afraid to share our faith and here is my little Amanda boldly asking a stray janitor if he’d been to church like she most certainly must have commanded him to do.

Only God knows the rest of the story as to where this certain janitor is now in his walk of faith with God  And that’s okay.  I’m sure he’s never forgotten the day he was cornered by this little blonde creature who held him off with her tiny presence and firm gaze.  But Amanda planted a seed.

We can all plant seeds.  Like my bible study/crazy knitting friends and I all agreed – it’s the little things we do that just might help someone grow closer to Christ.  You don’t have to be big or strong or powerful.  Just plant those seeds and let God do the watering and the weeding.

Oh Amanda.

just Laurel

The Parable of the Sower from Matthew 13:
Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.  As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.  Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.  But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.  Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.  Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:  When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path.  The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.  But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.  The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.  But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”