by Kimberly Knowle-Zeller
Lord, let my heart be good soil, open to the seed of your word.
Lord, let my heart be good soil, where love can grow and peace is understood.
When my heart is hard, break the stone away.
When my heart is cold, warm it with the day.
When my heart is lost, lead me on your way.
Lord, let my heart, Lord, let my heart be good soil (Evangelical Lutheran Worship 512).
Cupping hot coffee in my hands, I gaze outside and watch snow flurries swirling to the ground. My four-year old Isaac and I are at the dining room table. Papers, crayons, and markers lay scattered before us. Clutching a marker in his hand Isaac lifts his head for a moment between drawing wheels and coloring to tell me, “Mama, stay watching me.”
“This truck will transform into a seed robot.” He keeps narrating his drawing: the size and color of the seeds, how the seeds flow through the tube, how the driver moves the steering wheel.
Loving all things trucks and construction, Isaac is no stranger to diggers and dump trucks. Today, though, the seed truck comes from our Bible story read during the previous night’s Wednesday Lenten service.
As a church we listened to the parable of the sower and the seed. But not only did we hear the word spoken, we had before us an illumination from the Saint John’s Bible. Displayed on a large screen we all focused on the sower scattering seed. We were then invited to create and color in response to that story.
Adults and children alike picked up crayons and colored pencils. God’s word was heard and then brought to life with our own hands. There were no trucks in the original Bible story, yet, Isaac heard ‘seeds’ and used his imagination to bring the Bible story to life for him. He was listening, and I was watching and learning from him, too.
I watch Isaac make a seed truck. I can’t help but give thanks for the faith that is being instilled in him simply by showing up to hear the stories of God’s people. I give thanks for the people who are sharing God’s word — through showing up, sending cards and notes, teaching Sunday school, leading in worship. God’s word is meant to meet us in our lives wherever we are and however we’re feeling.
It takes a whole community to share faith and instill the biblical stories in others. The seeds of hope and faith and love are being scattered by so many and I’m grateful to not be alone in sharing faith with my children. With every story heard, and in every encounter in worship, seeds are sown. It’s my prayer that my children will continue to hear the hopeful words of others, and take the seeds given to them, and share them lavishly.
This Lent, may you pray about the seeds you are scattering. Ask God to use your gifts of time, service, and talents to bless the people before you. How might your congregational unit of Women of the ELCA scatter seeds together?
Kimberly Knowle-Zeller is a writer, pastor, wife, mother of two, and the co-author of The Beauty of Motherhood: Grace-Filled Devotions for the Early Years. She lives with her family in Cole Camp, Mo. Her website is kimberlyknowlezeller.com.