The Power of Seeds and Sacks

"Encourage- the act of inspiring others with renewed courage, spirit, or hope.  When we encourage others, we spur them on, we stimulate and affirm them.  We appreciate what a person does, but we affirm who a person is."-Charles Swindoll, Strengthening Your Grip

As I contemplate seeds to plant for my garden this spring, my mind wandersto the possibilities of being able to plant "seeds" of encouragement or hope in others.  I would buy seeds of Hope, Love, Kindness, Courage, Perseverance, Joy and Faith to "plant" in my family, friends and children I work with. What if we could just open up a head, and pour a few seeds from whichever sack of seeds needed.  I could use some of those seeds myself!  

While this method of planting encouragement is not possible, there are other ways that don't require that much more effort and will produce a big harvest.

One of the easiest ways to encourage others is with our words...a good Mom or teacher, or wife, or friend knows that noticing and speaking to those actions/attributes that are good in a person encourages their growth.  When my youngest son was a little guy, I prayed with him every night, just as with my other kids.  I made sure at the end of our prayers to always thank God for my son's "strong helping and building hands". Those hands may have gotten into some trouble that day, but I wanted to encourage my boy in the ability to help others I saw in him, and that God could use.  Over the years, I've seen his heart and hands develop and he has become a helper and builder... of Godly relationships and of things!

Other than cherished Bible verses that encourage me, I have a small clipping from a magazine that my Mom sent me about 29 years ago.  It has yellowed over the years and is even falling apart, but it always has the power to lift my spirits.  This is what is says: "Life is a strange, two-sided thing.  A dirge to chant or a song to sing.  Nothing adds beauty and harmony to our life and the lives of others more than the power of enthusiasm. "  To the side of the printed words, she simply wrote my name. 

I remember receiving it and thinking, "Wow, I never thought about being an enthusiastic person".  My mom saw something in me that I never even realized.  We each have the power to affirm others in this way.

Sometimes spoken or even written words can be that which help you keep hanging on in the really hard, tough times. The right words can be a lifeline when you're about to give in or give up.  I know in my own life others have encouraged, or put "fresh courage" into me when I was in despair over a situation.  I pray  that God would help us be that encourager to others when they need something to hang on to.  

We recently had an event at the Taste and See Coffee House where we made knotted scarves to remind us that God's word and His promises are the true encouraging words and even the "knots" we need to tie and then hang on to when the going gets rough.  Here are some of my favorite "knot" verses:

"May the Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.-Thessalonians 2:16-17

"Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified..the the Lord your God goes with you'he will never leave you nor forsake you."-Deuteronomy 3:16

"Don't let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God and trust in me."-John 14:1

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."-Galatians 6:9  (Goes along with our seed story!)

"So we're not giving up.  How could we?  Even though, on the outside, it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without His unfolding grace." -2 Corinthians 4:16 (The Message translation)

"May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in You."-Psalm 33:22

Keep these verses for when you're "at the end of your rope", or share them with someone else .

We also made our scarves (directions follow) and put them in paper sacks..you could make one for someone and stick these verses in the sack as well for someone who needs encouragement.

With Spring Break coming, you may have the chance to plant some seeds of encouragement to younger friends of family members.  Use a brown bag or sack and:

-pack a snack or lunch to have a picnic.  Talk about what God has been doing in their life.

-gather the troops and get some trash bags and start Spring Cleaning with a 100 thing decluttering challenge.  Have them look through their things and you do the same to find 100 things to bag up for donation or the  trash!  Talk about how God is the God of order and creation, not Chaos!

-Go collect a brown bag full of seeds to plant.  Early spring seeds such as lettuce, spinach and some flowers can be planted in potting soil in egg cartons, even in empty egg shells and transplanted outside later.

 Discuss the seed lesson above in that we reap what we sow..if we plant (act) kindness, we get kindness  back usually, or plant seeds of anger, we harvest those.

-make some cookies or snack mix and sack up to deliver to someone along with smiles and kind words

 Share these words with your fellow encouragers:

"We mustn't give up!  We might be the one to communicate hope to someone else, maybe by a gesture, maybe without words.  We must love and pray and hold one another up/"  Mary Crowley

Directions for Knotted Scarves (idea from Michelle's Crafts in Hayward, Wisconsin)

Supplies:  2" in diameter plastic or metal ring and 4 to 5 different yarns. (Note-this can get expensive if you buy new yarns yourself, you may want to go together with friends to each buy a yarn type for this project) Choose yarns of different textures and weights, use some silver or gold or shiny for "bling" if you want.

 Your yarns can be all of one color family or combine several colors.

Cut the yarns into 7 foot lengths. about 4-5 of each yarn type.

Wrap the ring with one of your yarns.  Double each yarn strand and attach to the ring by pulling the ends through the loop of the yarn around the ring. Repeat with each yarn until half the diameter of the ring is full.  Place the scarf around the back of your neck with the ring in front and pull the ends of the scarf through the ring.  To keep the ends of the yarns from unraveling, tie a knot on each stand.

Enjoy and let the knots remind you that God's promises keep us from becoming completely unraveled!  He always gives us fresh courage and hope.

Set Apart

Consecration: defined as to be set apart for a holy or noble purpose.  There can be no doubt as to the function of this building.  It is a church or cathedral with the purpose of worshiping God. Visiting the beautiful old cathedrals leaves one with the impression that people were serious in their intent to "set apart" or to make special their places of worship.  If you have visited the Cathedral of the Plains, you see and feel the results of many families' sacrifices in obtaining wagons of stone for building and in giving hard-earned money to make a very special place to honor God.

As a child, I was blessed to attend church at the old country church my mother's family had attended for many years.  New Hope Methodist Church, while a modest structure, is where I got my first lessons in setting apart something special for God.

Every November finds my Aunt Sue, Aunt Norma and Cousin Martha dishing up the best chicken and noodle dinner you will ever eat at the annual Lord's Acre Sale.  Their cinnamon rolls and bubble bread will bring high dollars at the auction to follow, with the proceeds set apart for the church's mission funds.

This concept intrigued me as a child--do farmers really keep an acre that belongs to God?  Do the crops grow better on that ground?  It was explained to me that the money earned from the crops on that acre, or the sale of some livestock, or the other products made for sale by church members were special and given for the Lord's work.

As an adult, I want to embrace more the idea of consecrating things in my life.
What if I set apart as holy a place in my home to worship, pray and read the Bible daily?  Some people have a place they go to pray, their "prayer closet", set apart for that purpose only.

What if I set aside time for the Lord's service....just like other appointments?  I read a book once in which a lady set aside every Saturday morning to "do the Lord's work".  She took food to those ailing, visited the downtrodden, and tried to encourage or perk up others who needed her attention. Of course,we can be serving others in Jesus' name at anytime. However, setting apart time in our week for service, just as for prayer, Bible study and worship as a deliberate choice  would show we are serious about the idea  of consecration.

I've read of other people who set aside specific times for prayer, they even call others by phone to "call out the names" of friends and loved ones in agreement to God in prayer. A group of my friends and I have done this for years...each Friday morning, when possible, we meet around my dining room table to pray for our families, our schools, church and communities.  As we look back at our prayer lists over the years, it is a testimony to God's love and goodness in how He has answered our prayers. You would think there would be a "holy" glow over the table, but the only "glow" is the dust motes dancing in the sunlight. I still think that table is special, though, as we have gathered around it to lift our prayers to the Lord.

What if I gave God the "first fruits," the first and best of my time and energy instead of giving Him the leftovers?  This is the Old Testament idea that each person owed God their best as sacrifices or offerings, the first of the crop, the best of the new livestock, which is where people got the idea for the Lord's Acre Sale.  This would mean the first of my money, too...to set aside funds for His work first, and adjust my other living expenses after instead of giving what is left.

What if I took God seriously when He said as His child and follower, I was to be consecrated..holy and set apart for His purposes?  I heard a speaker on the radio addressing a new class of students at a seminary.  He reminded them that in the Old Testament times, God had chosen the tribe of Levi to be consecrated, or set apart as the priests for the people.  They were the ones to tend the temple, offer sacrifices and carry the Ark of the Covenant, the special box containing God's word. The speaker told the students that they, too, as followers of Jesus were to be the carriers of God's word to the people.  They were also to carry God's grace.  He said all of us as followers of Jesus should imagine we carry buckets with God's words and grace.  When people bump us, not only physically but "bump" us with different ideas or rude behavior, what splashes onto them from our bucket?

What if I could splash others with His grace and His words?  Only with God's help and the help of the Holy Spirit in me would that be possible...but I could do my part by remembering I am to be "set apart".   Just as with the Levite priests of the past, we have a higher calling, a noble purpose. Memorize His words to be equipped as a "carrier", pray for a mind set of giving grace.

What if...we each made an effort to set some things aside as holy--a place to pray, a time for worship,
prayer and service, part of our money and most importantly our hearts and minds?
What an adventure it is..to see what God will do in us and through us!