Growing Your Seed of HOPE

As I was preparing the teaching for the Extreme Makeover Conference we did last week I knew God had put on my heart to use the analogy of a seed growing to explain and illustrate how God grows the Seed of Hope in our heart. This is especially important during time of extreme hardship and trials. To continue in those difficult times in life to add the elements into our life and spirit that is needed to grow the hope that comes from God and His Word.

So as I was preparing my teaching, I called a dear friend that has a gift of creating illustrations and as always she gave me some amazing ideas. Thank you Jayne for your help and creativity that I know comes from God.

She suggested that I get little $1 grow kits that I could pass out for all the ladies to have their own little seed to grow and for me to grow mine ahead of time to experience the process of waiting for a seed to grow. I have many good friends and family members who do gardens and I know they are all cringing at the thought that I - the most ungarderner person in the world is being used to use a planting illustration. :)

Well, it has been an amazing experience and has so connected me to the thought of growth in all areas of our lives. So I want to share some of my journaling as I waited for my seed to grow and compared it to the growing the Seed of Hope in our lives:

Day 1 - I prepared the soil for the seed.. the soil is our heart and the seeds are given to us from God. But we must prepare the soil of our hearts for the seeds to grow. The preparation of soil is up to us to do. How do we cultivate and prepare the soil of our hearts?

• We break up the hard ground - this could be Anger, unforgiveness or bitterness. Our soil must be soft for the seeds to grow
• We remove the weeds and the rocks - this could be discontent, complaining and Pride. These weeds and rocks will keep our seeds from growing.
• We add fertilizer - some of the best fertilizer is in God's Word -The Fruit of the Spirit - we need to add into the soil, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, self-control.
  

Our soil is now ready for our seed to begin to grow. As I planted my seeds (8 of them) (God gives us lot's of seeds) in the good soil I had to cover them with more soil. I could no longer see them but I knew they were there and now the waiting would begin.

Now if all I did was plant my seeds in the ground and did nothing else they would not grow. Next post we will talk about the elements that are needed for our SEED OF HOPE to grow into a strong, deep rooted plant.

22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Galatians 5:22-23 (New Living Translation)

To see more pictures of the Extreme Makeover Conference go to my website at www.aseedofhope.org and click on Extreme Makeover Box then click the album.