You're a Seed

It's been quiet around here for quite some time. It seems as if creativity and inspiration go hand in hand, and when those two aren't being fed the proper nutrients... well they decide to sit back and hold their magic until something happens.


I'm a bit theatrical, this I know. What I mean to say is, I've been feeling a little less than magical in terms of the creative department lately.


I've been busy at work running after children, reading stories, creating crayon monsters, and pretending I'm a big pirate as I swish across the wooden floor with a mop. 


And after a long day, I felt the amount of magic left inside of me to create something just wasn't worth trying.


When I have had a sliver of an idea, it just took one quick look at social media to realize my idea totally sucks. "So and so is so much better"... so I put out the spark before it even had the chance to become something. 



I read a story to our kids the other day called I'm a Seed by Jean Marzollo. And as simple as it was, it ignited something in me as I turned the pages and read it out loud.

It's about two tiny seeds who are planted in the ground, each different. One of them knows what it will become (marigold flowers), the other one doesn't.

And every time they sprout, the marigold seed seems way more ahead than the other seed. One grows up to the sky, the other one grows sideways.

The marigold is very confident in her growth process, whereas the other seed always looks at the marigold wondering why she isn't growing the same way. 


At one point, the marigold sprouts 20 flowers, and the other seed's petals die and become green and round.

Just then the other seed's green and round "petals" become orange. Finally the marigold shouts, "You are a pumpkin plant! You grew six pumpkins! You are beautiful!" 


In the end, both realize they each contain plenty of seeds within them to create even more beautiful marigold flowers and pumpkins.

What this sweet story helped me understand is that we as humans are the same way. 

In this story... I'm the pumpkin plant. I'm constantly looking at the people around me and their growth, wondering why aren't I growing the same way too?

What in the world will I become? Will I have flowers? Will they be pretty? What color will they be?

And then I thought about what God says about us.

// For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. // Ephesians 2:10

God created me with all things that I need inside of me. What He instilled there is unlike the seed next to me, but it's everything I will need to become who He made me to be. 

And once we grow... we'll have seeds to help others grow into what God has created them to be too.  

My job isn't to look at the growth of the person next to me. Because they have something else that they're called to be. 

My job is to love God, love people, and grow with what I was given inside of me... in the ground that I was placed in.  

I am a seed. 

You are a seed too. 

Grow where you are planted...  and with time you'll see the beauty flourish out of you too.