We are on the homestretch of the school year, with less than 8 days to go! We are so ready for the summer!! I am a second grade teacher, and one of our final projects has been learning all about the life cycle of a plant. To bring the learning to life, each of my students had the opportunity to plant something of their own.
I do not have a green thumb whatsoever and had to ask my teammates many questions about how to successfully guide my students through this process. The last thing I wanted to do was send them home with a plastic cup of dirt, haha!
This has been such a fun process for me and has given me many blog moments along the way. Its been extremely therapeutic and has once again allowed me to move slowly and be patient with the growth process.
If you look through the pages of scripture, there are many references to plants, farming and agriculture, most of the time comparing our lives to the life of a plant.
Psalm 1:3 says this, “They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.”
Jeremiah says this, “He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
Over the next couple of weeks, we are going to look into the life cycle of a plant and how it parallels to the lives we live.
This week, let’s take a closer look at the seed.
A plant starts life as a seed. When I was preparing for this little project for my class, I discovered that I had a bag of lima beans tucked away in my Science Box. This science box is not a new box, but one that was used last year.
Holding the bag of beans in my hands, I realized that these beans would only remain beans if left in my hands–they would never reach their fullest potential of growth or multiplication in this bag.
I wanted my students to see the process that often takes place underneath the soil, so rather than taking the seeds and placing them in the soil immediately, we put the beans in a zip loc bag, added a damp paper towel to the bag and set it up to hang in the sunlight.
Within moments, our beans began to go to the next step of the life cycle-germination. For over a year there was no sign of life or growth, and then, all of a sudden, when put in a position to grow, they began to change.
As I walked my students to lunch, we all were so amazed! Growth was happening and these seeds were taking on new life.
I asked myself and I’ll ask you, what in your life is on the shelf, tucked away in a box that has the potential to grow that you have not given the opportunity to come to life?
Our lives, our dreams and our greatest desires are not meant to be stored up somewhere, but they are meant to be lived out, experienced and possessed.
Or maybe you’re saying, Sarah I don’t have any seeds, I don’t see anything stored up in my life! I encourage you to ask the Lord! His word says that, “He gives seed to the sower.” Meaning He gives seed to those who will sow what they have been given.
God wants to give you great an beautiful things. But, His plans and purposes for you are not found fully grown and mature, but instead, they are entrusted to us as small, tiny, insignificant-looking seeds. We must see those seeds as the greatest treasures and full of potential.
Take the next few moments and do some seed inventory. What has God entrusted you with that is in hiding?
Next week-we will learning about the next step of the life cycle, germination… sounds fun, doesn’t it?!
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