Seed Time and Harvest Time

Yesterday morning, I was on the road again! Willie Nelson, thanks for the song to accompany my travels to here and there and back again. I made my way back to Frisco from Austin and what a joy it was to arrive just in time for the performances of my Wallace grandchildren (and their Mama) as they performed at the Createvations Showcase last night. Lots of practice and hard work merited outstanding performances. It was another sweet night of celebrating these kids AND recalling to how we got here.

Here comes another blast from the past. From a very early age, we knew our daughter had a God-given talent to sing. She was always known as the little girl with the big voice. But that little girl needed vocal training — proper technique and breathing, stage presence and lots and lots of practice to mature the gift. Who knew better how to develop those giftings than her daddy who had likewise been given incredible vocal abilities. It didn’t take long for him to realize that God’s giftings in her required an investment of his time to help cultivate her talents. Soon, his goal was to pour himself into our girl. He knew his investment of time could have the potential of yielding a huge harvest. Seed time and harvest time.

They spent hours and hours of time in our basement in Canada….. practicing and practicing. Staci would often be in tears when her daddy said “Sing it again, but this time……….” Today, Staci would be the first to tell you how grateful she is for her Dad’s relentless persistence and diligence in training her.

The icing on the cake is that those often miserable times of rehearsals and practices (the seed time) resulted in the opening of many doors of opportunity. Her musical abilities have served her well (the harvest time).

My husband was also a gifted and talented pianist. I can’t begin to tell you the joy he had when Payton, Staci’s son, wanted to follow in Papa’s footprints….er….rather, Papa’s fingerprints on the piano keys. Since four years old, Payton has been honing his love for playing the piano. Last night, what a joy it was to see, for the first time, Staci singing, with her son, Payton – Papa’s protégé, accompanying her on the piano. Papa must have been leaning over the rails of heaven cheering them on.

I shared this with my FB family today to emphasize the importance of seed time and harvest – what we plant, will eventually yield a fruitful harvest if we don’t quit. I’m so grateful to be a part of the harvest today as I repetitively see the fruits of our labors in our children and grandchildren

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.