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Saturday, June 16
My father loved digging...of all sorts. Digging into the
soil to plant things. I wrote about his love of the soil and being able to make
anything grow in his special soil in a post entitled Coaxed Back to Life.
He also loved digging into the soil to discover hidden
treasures of what former generations had left behind.
But his favorite type of digging was plunging into the soil
of God’s Word to find hidden treasures, those things the ancient generations
left for future generations to find.
He and my grandfather bought a large farm in the late ’40s
and, along with my hubby, began developing it into a community of homes, businesses,
and churches in the late ’60s. As the houses were built, Dad found many artifacts.
When he and mother decided to rebuild one of the historic
homesites on the property, Dad had the students of the archaeology department
of the local university to help dig. They found all sorts of shards. Shards of old
pottery, bits of colored glass, old marbles, keys. As shards of hearts once living there.
What he and the diggers uncovered would have filled a small museum.
A lot of it has been given to and preserved by the current owner of the home
for a small exhibit in the home.
Among Dad’s finds was a large amount of pottery shards in blue
and white. Which just happened to be my mother’s favorite colors. She was the
blue and white queen!
When my mom died a few years ago, one of my sisters and I
had to decide what to do with all of mother’s things, which included things
belonging to my dad who had died twelve years before.
I have a box of some of the blue and white pottery shards. For
some reason, the box went undiscovered in our garage. I found it a couple of
weeks ago and have been trying to decide what to do with the shards. I’ve seen
tables, flower pots, picture frames, mirrors, and other items tiled with
pottery shards.
I think I’ll do one or all of these things: 1) take one or
two of the larger shards and make them into hearts for necklaces, keeping my
dad close to my heart, 2) cover a frame for his picture, and/or 3)
cover a flower pot or two, since he loved to grow things.
I think the flower pot is my favorite: taking shards of one
lovely pieces and remaking them into something useful again, filling them with
special soil for seeds of beauty to grow.
In one of Jesus’ parables, He compared the kingdom to a
farmer sowing seeds, as some fell along the wayside but the birds ate it; some
fell on rocky and shallow soil but, with not roots, lasted until adversity
came; other seed fell among thorns where cares and riches choked them out;
while “some fell on good soil and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and
even a hundred times as much as he had planted. If you have ears, listen!” (Matt.
13:8-9 TLB)
When the disciples asked Him the meaning of the parable, He
said of the good soil, “The good ground represents the heart of a man who
listens to the message and understands it and goes out and brings thirty,
sixty, or even a hundred others into the Kingdom.” (Matt. 13:23 TLB)
Our heavenly Father can grow anything in the special soil of
tender hearts that allow Him to plant His seeds. I want the shards of my heart
to be made into something beautiful, to fill it with that special soil and receive
those seeds of the Father’s Word and flourish with a harvestful of produce.
Today, because of the seed-sowing of my heritage, I am able
to stand on God’s promise (below) and hook up with Duane Scott’s blog hop on
God’s promises (Mondays).
Promise: “Teach children how they should live, and they will
remember it all their life.” (Prov. 22:6 GNT)
Thank you, Daddy! And thank You, Father!
Scribing the Journey with Duane Scott...
