This is What Seed-Time and Harvest Looks Like

These lovely ladies sat beside me at a wonderful luncheon fundraiser for women’s ministry outreaches yesterday. As we visited, Ann, on the left, told me she and her husband were part of the first twelve people who started meeting to worship God together twenty-two years ago in just a small building in downtown Frisco. They had the hearts for a Catholic Church to be built in Frisco, TX – since the closest ones were in McKinney, Plano or Denton – all at least 30 miles away. Various priests would join them to celebrate the mass for them.

After many long years of planning and two years of construction, the existing church and chapel were completed in December. 2013. The hall we met in yesterday was the first structure built. I saw Ann gazing, almost overwhelmed, at how many women were at the luncheon. The church has over 39,000 members now. From 12 to 39,000 in 22 years. Talk about "seedtime and harvest"! Twenty-two years of planting, praying, serving and giving certainly produced a bumper crop. I said to Ann and Donna, her daughter, “Just look at what you did. You planted many seeds and today you are witnessing the harvest. I was reminded of the scripture: “Be not weary in doing good for in due season you will reap if you don't give up!” Galatians 6:9

I share this sweet exchange of a "sower" who recognizes the harvest she was a part of – the many who have given their lives to Christ, those who have been baptized, married, and raising their own children – planting into them the rewards of sowing and reaping. We plant. God gives the increase. If we don’t dig up our seeds by words we speak or actions we take and if we trust God for the increase, eventually what we planted will yield a fruitful harvest. Waiting is the toughest part of the sowing process, isn’t it? We sow our seed…then…silence. If we sow our seed in faith, we expect it to grow, and we’ll keep expecting— no matter how long it takes. In the meantime, it is important that our words match our faith. We might as well say: “I am expecting a record-breaking harvest.” That's what Ann has seen.

Maybe you’re waiting for a financial harvest, a breakthrough in a relationship, or healing and restoration in your body or emotions or your church or business to grow. Whatever it is, if your harvest is taking longer than you’ve anticipated, God’s Word and His promises are true. So, hold on! God remembers every seed you’ve ever sown. So, don’t give up on your seed just before the finish line. Harvest is coming!

I encourage you to consider the seeds you plant each day into those you influence -- your children and maybe you don’t have children, but you have friends, loved ones, and neighbors that you could be planting seeds of faith, hope, confidence, and encouragement into them. Not only does your influence represent seed time into their lives -- but just maybe, you’ll get to be there when their harvest comes in AND when you watch them plant seeds into others, too. Yesterday, I was able to celebrate “harvest” with dear Ann. She’s a very proud and happy sower AND reaper!

What Does Your Life ECHO?

I was in a store and heard a young child speak an unthinkable string of words. I spun my head around to see what the parent was going to do because I could hardly believe my ears. Yet the parent seemed oblivious to his words. Evidently, the parent put the words out there and the child echoed those words back. In another situation, I witnessed a child putting her little hands on her mama’s face and with fervency exclaimed, “I love you sooo much!” That child echoed the words she had heard. What is being echoed in your home and in your sphere of influence?

An ECHO is like sowing and reaping. What we plant, we harvest. If we only speak AND think and if we only plant and sow words of doubt, negativity, unbelief, worry, and anger, then we can expect back the echo (the harvest) of the same. On the other hand, when we are speaking and thinking, planting and sowing -- good thoughts of blessings, love, joy, generosity, peace, kindness, and respect – then that echo will come back with the same.

It’s the Fall season which, of course, leads to thoughts of harvest time and reaping what we’ve sown. With this post, I’m encouraging all of us to think about what our life is reaping. God's laws of reciprocity have never changed. "You reap what you sow." Galatians 6:7 We know the repercussions of negative sowing so if we want a harvest of what we sincerely desire, we'll make sure that our "planting" produces a crop of blessings! If we’re not reaping the blessings we’d like to have, then maybe it’s time to give thought to the seeds we planted.

If we planted honesty, we'll reap trust.
If we planted friendship, we'll reap friends.
If we planted love, we'll reap love.
If we planted hard work, we'll reap success.
If we planted forgiveness, we'll reap reconciliation.
If we plant faith in God, we'll reap a harvest of blessings.

I’m on a mountaintop and I’m yelling “I love you! The echo is “I love you!”. I’m shouting “You are strong and courageous: My echo is “You are strong and courageous!” Imagine you’re on that mountaintop today – what are you shouting and what is coming back at you?

Remember, you are the director of your own movie. You can say CUT at any time to negative speaking and thinking! So go ahead and rewrite the ending to be one of a great harvest of blessings because that’s what you planted during the first scene of the movie!

Be a REFLECTION of What You'd Like to Be

REFLECTION: an image that is seen in a mirror or on a shiny surface; something that shows the effect, existence, or character of something or someone.

I love how God gives us "thumbs up" on decisions we make. I typed up this blog early yesterday morning before I left for an event so it would be ready to POST this morning at 6 am. Imagine my delight, when a lady at the event said, "Donna, in my thoughts about you I saw you outdoors in nature and you came to a stream and you looked in the stream and saw your REFLECTION,....etc. Her words encouraged me beyond that word, but she confirmed the post I had written for you today. God is so faithful to me AND you!

I love this photo, and quote. "Be a REFLECTION of what you'd like to receive. If you want love, give love. If you want truth, be truthful. What you give out, will always return. REFLECTION is also like a boomerang -- when we give love, it will come back to us. If we give joy, we'll receive back joy. If we give forgiveness, we will be forgiven.

It's the Laws of Reciprocity -- God's laws of sowing and reaping. Those laws aren't new at all. It started with the greatest of all GIVERS when Jesus said, "Give...and it shall be given" Luke 6:38. Simply put, reciprocity is the notion of mutual exchange or fair return. It’s the basis of many business interactions where a fair exchange of goods and services is made between parties.

On the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave us the Laws of Reciprocity in the purest form -- for example "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Matthew 5:7

We've heard the words: "Serve....and you shall be served." "Love....and you shall be loved." "Be a friend.....and you shall have friends." Just makes good sense -- especially when it's been tested and proven by successful leaders! Our dear friend, Zig Ziglar, said, "You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want." Smart and truly successful people get this. It's NOT giving TO GET. Typically, in those times that we give -- we do so with absolutely no expectation or desire to receive back.....but with God's Laws of Reciprocity -- there is ALWAYS a give back. Those laws just can't help themselves. We do receive back in so many ways. If our heart stays fixed on giving, serving and loving -- the REFLECTION and the ACTION will be to RECEIVE.

What is your life echoing today?

I was in a store and I heard a small child speakable such unthinkable language. I could hardly believe my ears. Yet the parent seemed oblivious to the words. That parent or environment that the child lived in -- sent out the words, and the child echoed those words back.

In another situation, I witnessed a child putting his little hands on his mama’s face and with fervency said, “I love you so much!” That child echoed the words she heard.

That’s just the way it works. It’s like sowing and reaping. What we plant, we harvest. If we only speak negativity, doubt, unbelief, weariness, sadness, loneliness, anxiousness – then we can expect the echo back of the same. On the other hand, we sow love, joy, peace, gentleness, self control, gladness, respect – then that echo will be the same.

In other words, what is your life reaping? God's laws of reciprocity have never changed. "You reap what you sow." Galatians 6:7 We know the repercussions of negative sowing: for example, dishonesty = mistrust -- but to have the harvest we sincerely desire, we'll make sure that our "planting" produces a crop of blessings!

If we plant honesty, we'll reap trust.
If we plant friendship, we'll reap friends.
If we plant humility, we'll reap greatness.
If we plant love, we'll reap love.
If we plant hard work, we'll reap success.
If we plant forgiveness, we'll reap reconciliation.
If we plant faith in God, we'll reap a harvest of blessings.

I’m on a mountaintop and I’m yelling “I love you! You are beautiful! You are strong! You are courageous! You are generous! You are smart! You are clever!” And, GUESS WHAT – I’m hearing it right back!.