Tag: paths

Sow, Then Reap

12/17/22

I visited a verse this week that I saw in a different light. II Corinthians 9:6 tells us, “He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” What are the immediate thoughts when this verse is used, which many of us have heard hundreds of times in our lives?

There may be many applications, but my immediate thought has taken me to gardening. I have proven this verse to be wrong. I plant an over-abundant amounts of seeds and plants in our small garden out back, and then I proceed to over-fertilize, under water, leave the weeds and then cross the tomatoes with the corn. I am the worse gardener ever, but I am a pro at growing the weeds! Actually, the plants and seeds I put in the ground typically come up and they are perfect, but I hardly reap anything. Except one year I planted jalapenos; it was amazing! There were so many, I did it the next year because, hey, why not, I can grow something. The problem is we do not eat jalapenos. Seriously, our taste buds do not do super spicey, but I made some salsa. Then after a couple of weeks and more growth, I passed the jalapenos on to friends who use them often. I was super proud. I have to say my succulent journey has been pretty much the same. I have some growth, then barely alive for months, then death, then trash; many times over.

II Corinthians is definitely not proven wrong by my lack of green thumb, of course, but the amount of sowing and the correct sowing and the amount of reaping are in direct correlation with each other. Now, what else comes to mind and what does this verse really mean to us? Sow sparingly, reap sparingly; sow bountifully, comes back to us sometimes ten-fold, even the sparingly part. What areas can we apply this to in our lives today? Absolutely everything! Our pastor spoke to our teens on Sunday about decisions they make today are crucial to their future. I have told teen girls that multiple times. Their whole future is ahead of them and what will they choose today to make a Godly go at it? If we as adults apply this verse today, let us wake up and throw out the seed of quiet time with God. How much we sow gives to us encouragement, joy, strength; anything that we are as Christians to move forward in our day. Makes us think about having sown quiet time. Then our harvest will be an amazing day. Well, if it turns out not to be so amazing, at least we sowed Christ into our soul and spirit to draw peace and strength to face what might be the hardest day/days of our life.

Been there, people, and I wish my thirteen-year-old self had Jesus, because the discouragement that came with my cancer diagnosis was other-worldly. Thoughts of taking my life were never a part of my brain activity; I have to say I cared about me more than to take my life, but dying in my sleep? That would have been a peaceful way to go, was my thinking. I knew of God and how He could have made that happen. I just did not know God like I do today. I have learned to say, God is sovereign and has each and every step orchestrated for me. At thirteen, I wanted those steps to be my steps and the orchestration written out my way, so I did the only thing I knew to do and that was survive. God may have been in control, but that hair loss was not going to keep me depressed. I wore a wig. That chemo treatment was not going to keep me out of school, I went every day except the day after chemo. I was not sick, and no one could convince me otherwise. This was just an inconvenience. Sowing Jesus in my life was just what I heard in Sunday school, so I realized I needed Him almost a year after my diagnosis, and I saw Him as my Savior. Then in college, He got a hold of my heart and made me realize I had nothing to do with being alive, healthy, and with the ability to serve Him. He challenged me to start sowing my quiet time, then He started reaping in me a soul and spirit that truly depended on Him for every single day. One that looks to Him for joy, strength, health! My mantra: everything, everyday has God’s hand on it.

God asks us to sow. He asks us to throw out the seed of giving; of our finances, of our time, our lives to service. We could give lunch with a friend, gifts to others, or maybe coffee to a coworker just because. We should know if we sow, we are going to reap benefits. God sees and He may not bless financially now when we give financially, but who has ever given a gift just because and did not feel a ping of joy? There is the reap. We reap what we sow in our time. I have been hustling on to get something done and been stopped numerous times because that person needed time. I came away with a happy heart, a blessed moment in that relationship. Granted, I blew past a majority of people, but that is where I need to work on my sowing. People need us, people need time, people need love. Why are we too busy to give to people, or should we say, why do we not give to people and make the “busy” excuse. The verse, “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly,…” Proverbs 18:24, then show friendly and reap. We have had conversations with our boys multiple times about this very same thing. Need encouragement, show encouragement. Reach outside of our self and be nice, be helpful, and be someone to someone else when they may not have someone, because THE SOMEONE asks us too. The amounts of sowing opportunities in our lifetime are abundant, whether right or wrong, we really should be aware and calculated with our lives, determining our steps ordered by God. “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.” He is for us.

Throw out the seed of kindness. Our families deserve our kindness, and we reap abundantly what we sow in this area. It actually is an immediate reaping, right? Throw out the seed of love. Love is a choice, it is a feeling, too, but if we do not feel loved or want to give love, that really does not determine our love for someone. But we choose to love, and our God has shown us the ultimate love, so who are we not give back to Him and others? Throw out the seed of joy. “How are you?” I submit to you, let us start saying what an old friend used to say every time, “Super Fantastic.” instead. Throwing out a joyful response really helps us feel better about what is going on around us at any given moment. Throw out the seeds of peace. Our generation today has a huge entitlement issue, thus keeping things volatile. No one is entitled to anything when we have Christ in our lives and when we do not, we still are not entitled because God has the whole universe in His hands and controls everything. Each person is on this earth because of one God. Finally, just throw out the rest of the seeds of Galatians 5:22, 23; “…against such there is no law.”

What are we sowing today? There are many people in my life that have taught me the seeds to throw out so that I may reap. I am grateful and truly blessed to have them in my life, because I then can testify if I sow abundantly, I will reap abundantly.

Where Is That Place?

forest_pathway_detail

9/22/18

Because there are so many details that are pertinent in a story like mine, I do have to start quite a few years before my cancer diagnosis. My mom grew up in a Christian home and accepted the Lord as her savior early on in life. My dad was saved and surrendered to be a preacher by the time he was nine years old. They both went to Bible college, got married, graduated, and headed out to serve in a ministry in North Dakota where I was born. Shortly after, they moved to another ministry in Oklahoma where my brother was born, and then back to Texas where they met. My dad was asked to be the pastor at a church in their hometown when I was five, and because this was where they grew up, their parents and siblings all lived in the same area. Everything was so wonderful in the eyes of a kid my age. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all lived nearby with many of them attending our church, and there were many family gatherings were exciting and memorable.

My brother and I attended the Christian school across the street from the church. We lived one street over, and walked and rode our bikes to school and all over the neighborhood to play with friends. My mom had our youngest brother during this time, and we stayed busy playing with him after school, as well. One day, my parents came in my room, and said they needed to tell me something. My dad had decided to take the family and go see a church in far southwestern Wyoming. I remember asking why and thinking, “I am not quite sure I really know where that state is.” I looked it up because I knew Colorado and Wyoming looked just alike, and I wanted to make sure I knew which one it was. After we returned home, my dad accepted the call to the church, and we loaded up a moving truck and a minivan and headed away from family and friends on a new adventure.

We, or should I say I, had no idea what the Lord would do in our lives from this point on. I know He had already been directing our paths and showing my parents that He was in control up to this point, but at twelve, I was a little disappointed and confused but mainly nervous. Sometimes I think about current decisions that my husband and I face right now and wonder if that was what my parents were going through at the time. I can imagine that it might be similar, and I appreciate their step of faith into the unknown.

If I recall correctly, we arrived a week after the public school started, so I headed to seventh grade and my brother to fifth grade. I remember walking in after school had started that morning, and the principal greeting us. After a conversation, they took me down this long hallway and outside of Science class I think, I was introduced to a girl. Cliché, we became fast friends. No, really, we did not leave each other’s side for years. Who knew I would need that introduction to this girl that would be a support to me, and who introduced me to other seventh graders that would eventually, outside of my parents and church family, be the support on this earth to walk through a valley. God knew. He had guided the steps of my parents up to this point in our lives. He had brought them together, showed them a path to take serving Him in the ministry, have a family, and move them to a small, remote town in Wyoming. This move was truly important in our lives not only because of the church my dad accepted, but for the proximity it was to a place we would visit often. We truly had no idea how important.

Psalm 37:23 tells us, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord; and he delighteth in his way.” It is hard to know God’s direction sometimes, but if we stay in His Word and seek counsel through those He places in our lives, the path will seem more clear to us. God wants us to follow Him, because His path is right. Whatever the journey, whatever the circumstances, whatever the outcome, He will show us the way, and then He will show us why.

The Journey Begins

Featured

9/3/18

Sitting at a restaurant recently, my friend and I ordered my favorite Sushi rolls, since it was all new to her. We spent a couple of hours talking about family, children, schooling, cancer, children (she has quite a few), church and ministry… Oh, did I mention cancer and children. She has a little one going through cancer, and quite a few years ago, 28 to be exact, I went through many of the things her little one is currently facing. Kind of ironic that our paths crossed about 15 years ago, and we became fast friends; that after moves to different cities and life changes, we still pick up where we left off? Not irony, but an Almighty God that orchestrates our every step and leads us down smooth, healthy paths most of the time with the occasional rocky, mountain trails mixed in.

I realized when we parted ways, I needed to write down my journey to where I am today. A blog seems more like putting down encouraging words for the day, so telling a story from almost 30 years ago seems a bit abnormal. But it also seems important, because there are many people today going through the exact same things just in a different way.

So this begins a new chapter in a journey that I believe is directed by a loving God that chooses paths for us to take to be an example of that love. People say that if God loves than why does He make bad things happen to good people. If we read in the Bible in the book of Job, God chose a man that went through prosperity and then lost everything, yet he never turned his back on God. Everyone around him told him to curse God, but he refused, and God returned to him the things he had lost. Job is not just an example of if you stay the course, God will bless, but he is an example of stay the course.

God does not always give back to us what we have lost like He did for Job, but He always gives us hope and peace in the journey if we keep our trust in Him. Proverbs 3:5, 6 says “Trust in the LORD with ALL thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In ALL thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

I began my journey in September 2018, so it helps to begin there. A drop down at the very bottom of this page should take you there quickly if you keep scrolling. Thank you for choosing to be a part of this journey.