My Story…His Story, Part 6

I was taking a nature walk recently around the property where my son attends school.  I will be teaching a nature elective for them this year and wanted to get the lay out of the land.  I wasn’t too hopeful of what I would find.  We are in Texas and everything seems to dry up this time of year, plus from a wholistic view, most of what an observer sees are buildings, parking lots, signs, grass, landscaping, and an occasional tree.  In fact, any “natural” phenomena seems few and far between.

Until I stopped on Saturday morning and really looked and listened.  In the south side of the campus, there is a grassy area full of lush St. Augustine grass that meets you as you walk into the building.  Sitting directly on the grass is a towering Texas live oak tree with an enormous plume that provides shelter and shade.  Those two obvious pieces of nature are what caught my eye, until I looked deeper.  I got on my knees and decided to see if there were any other species hidden in that grassy area and all of the sudden, my world was a bit rocked. Hidden gems of the natural world began to appear everywhere around me.  “Kiss-me-quick”, a tiny fuchsia-colored flower with a golden center and spiky foliage, emerged from a crack in the pavement.   I laughed as I thought of the boys in my class who would appreciate having a go-to in their courting relationships.  Right next to it was baby cedar elm tree the size of my thumb whose seed had wandered across the parking lot and made its debut right in front of me.  Creeping wood sorrel, the straggler daisy, prostrate spurge, etc.  All raising their hands to be seen in a carpet of emerald shag.  But then one more caught my eye.  Marsh parsley.  A tangled Kelly-green mess. Stems the diameter of thread and seeds the size of a pin hole.  And then the Holy Spirit showed up.  This is me.  A mess most of the time.  1 person in an ocean of others.  Sowing tiny seeds.  Smiles at a cashier.  Virtual hugs to a sister in Christ.  Nature lessons to a high school student.   Words of encouragement to that middle school girl.  Banana bread to a neighbor. 

But when I looked up, the towering live oak hovered above me.  

“Shelley, keep sowing those tiny seeds, because one of them is going to take root and become “an oak of righteousness for a display of MY GLORY.”   

I am the Marsh Parsley.  A little Italian trying to shine the light of Jesus in my corner of the world.

Who are you?  The wood sorrel.  The kiss-me-quick.  The straggler daisy.  We all have a call that God has put on our lives that only we can do.  Your foliage may look different than mine. Your seeds may be bigger.  But there is fruit waiting to grow.  Waiting. 

“Someone, Somewhere, is depending on you to do what God has called you to do.” – Toby Mac

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV) 

We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works

which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.