“I’d completely given up on this seed ever becoming anything. But, look! It broke through yesterday,” I said to my 6th grade daughter.
I gleefully held the plastic green cup in front of her. She wasn’t nearly as excited or shocked as I was, but I guess that’s to be expected from a pre-teen on occasion.
Or maybe, just maybe her gentle, nonchalant words reflected the state of her heart:
“That’s why you never give up, Mom. You’ve got to have faith.”
Over a month before, she wrote Butter-Nut Squash on the white paper and taped it to the side. We poured the planting soil into the cup and gently dropped the seed in the hole our fingers created. The other seeds we planted inside that winter day germinated according to the prescription on the back of the seed packet, but this one had other plans.
I’d completely given up hope. Dismissed the possibility. Placed it outside and planned to reuse the soil.
Yet, in my shock and awe, I gazed at the wonder of the plant and pondered my middle schooler’s truth.
“You’re SO, right” is all I can say.
When hope looks lost. Never give up.
When dreams burn to the ground. Never give up.
When decisions are vast and hurt is real. Never give up.
Sit in the soil. Wait for the rain. Trust the sun is there, even in the darkness. Feel the brokenness of the seed opening where roots begin to take shape. Then, in some miraculous way, a stem grows and reaches with all its strength for the light. The light will come and the sun’s warmth will envelop every part of your being.
Never give up. Cling to faith even its all you have.
Your time is coming, but don’t miss the purposeful inner-workings in the soil in the meantime.
“Faith is being sure of what we hope for. It is being sure of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1, NIV).
Anika Ortiz 