A Little Seed...with BIG Rewards.......

Here is Costa Rica we have a local "Feria" or "Farmers Market" as we call it in the states. Every Saturday venders line both sides of the narrow street near the park where we live. It is about a 10 minute walk or so and we take the same path everytime we go. One Saturday in early December Mark and I were walking and noticed a tomato plant growing beside a light pole near the street. Mark said, "Would you look at that". Someone must have tossed a tomato by the road or a dog tore into a trash bag. Never-the-less a nice tall tomato plant had begun to grow. Mark has a love for outdoors just like his momma and could spend all of his time working in something whether it were a garden or just moving leaves a debris to burn. A few weeks later we saw that someone had chopped the plant down leaving only a tiny little sappling. After we finished our shopping, Mark said, "I am gonna pick it and try to root it and see what happens". So we came home and he put it in a glass with water and placed it in the window of the kitchen. It was less than a week later that we noticed it had roots and was ready to be planted in the ground.

While Mark's parents were here his momma started a compost pile in our back yard. This was a great idea for us since we had a lot of fresh fruit and vegetable peels that could go in it. She worked everyday on it while they were here and even had Josiah and Hunter cutting the peels into the dirt to make a nice rich soil. When they returned to the states we went for a surprise visit ourselves sad to go beacuse there would be no-one to care for our little tomato plant that had started to grow.

 We were so surprised and excited to find the little plant had doubled in size while we were away. Now the plant is at least 3 feet tall and has "5" little green tomatoes on it. WOW! How exciting to see. I do however hope that we get to eat them before we move in 8 weeks. Not only do we have the nice tomato plant that he started but we have "5" new baby ones, as well as "5" potato plants that just popped up from the peels that we threw out. All, because we put them in the ground and watered it trying to make compost. Had we tossed those things out with the trash we would only have the one little plant that Mark nutured back to life.

This story is much like our role as a Christian. When we pass out a track or visit someone to share the Gospel we are planting the seed. However, sometimes many of us let those seeds like that little tomato plant grow by the wayside and forget that they are there until someone "cuts" them down. The important job that we have is to continue to share with others and let them know a tiny peice of our testimony. Just like in my last post about putting verses to memory this will help in the process to continue to share the Gospel. We may not always be able to see the end results of planting that seed but I know that the Bible says we will all have rewards in Heaven if we continue to share our faith. You see, the person who tossed out that tomato has no idea that we have a large plant with baby tomatoes ready to mature but we will reap the benefits from it. In Galations 6:7-8 it says: Be not deceived, God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Also in Psalms 126: 5-6 the Bible says "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

Once we are in Honduras we not only plan to have a garden with tons of fruits and vegetables to help with the food supply....(plus the weather permits us to have a graden year round) but we plan on planting the seeds of the Gospel within the hearts of the little children that will be in our care. Once we are more established we will teach "our kids" to go and plant seeds within our community by passing out tracks or holding Bible clubs on local soccer fields. It all goes back to the verses of the Bible "You will reap what you sow" and I don't know about you but I want to be able to say that I reaped for the Lord.

Some of our little "potato plants"