As adults we can be so presumptuous, like we know what’s best, all the time.
God teaches us that we can plant and water, but He will make things grow. As any parent would amen, there’s so much relief in knowing we don’t have to make things grow. The design is for us to plant, cultivate, nurture and care. So let’s all take a deep breath in and a huge exhale. The results are not on us!
One hidden treat of being around Grace Klein Community is watching the growth happen. Growth has a variety of faces, the shelves of canned food, tomato plants, feathers on a chicken, recycling bin, compost heap, volume of food distributed, quantity of volunteers, how many times the floor is swept, taped boxes, broken down boxes, more grey hairs, taller children, longer listening, business and ministry partners, prayer lists, God stories, brokenness, laughter, depth of friendships… on and on is the proof of growth.
We are easily oblivious to the growth around us, trucking along with our days, our checklists, and our plans. Sharing a bag of pears, being a part of the plan, but our heart and mind missing a bigger picture. Or maybe we see the kids running around, in our peripheral vision, but we do not really see them or all the growth in them.
Have you ever heard any of these prayer phrases…
Lord, break my heart for what breaks yours.
Give me eyes to see.
Teach me to love like you, Lord.
Make me like Jesus.
One way we can grow in Jesus is to notice how God, not us, makes things grow. He is constantly growing each of us, growing our ability to love, our work ethic, our eyes to see pain around us, our depth of understanding, wisdom to be quiet and listen, etc.
As we consider the children in Grace Klein Community, there is a lot of growing going on! Obviously the growing bigger part – kids are learning to crawl, walk, requiring the next size of clothes, taller, shoes become too small. Of even greater delight, they are growing in how they express themselves, in deliberate listening, education, sharing, giving, chores. Many children are growing in Jesus, they are hearing his voice, experiencing conviction, loving sacrificially and considering others above themselves.
If there was a mandated happy dance, all the parents would run out in the rain and celebrate every growth because sometimes it seems so impossible that a child will wash the dishes without being asked, share a favorite toy with their brother, complete their math worksheet, make their bed, offer to pray for a friend or ask to serve anyone besides themselves. (How does God put up with all of us, especially us stubborn adults, and grow us up in spite of ourselves?? But that’s another story. Anyway…)
A great example of “growing up” is one of our community members, Micah Elliott. His parents, and other friends and family, started planting and watering into him when he was born. He probably went along to deliver his first box of food when he was in a baby seat carried by his daddy. He helped distribute apples in the food boxes when he first began to walk. He was shy and his mama probably walked beside him showing him which box to do next. When he came to his first community campout, he was completely miserable, his homebody self wanting to be home. He came to prayer night and that look on his face said, “don’t call on me.”
Sometimes kid growth is awkward, creative and messy. A child may not really want to grow and the parent has to have the resolve to keep giving them opportunities for growth and trusting God to do the growth. Micah was one of those boys. He didn’t really seem to love the idea of serving and would even ask to go to the bathroom in hopes of avoiding a little of the opportunities. He is an introvert and the volume of people and the changing scenarios probably felt too much. But his parents gently kept at it, giving him one opportunity after the next, and waiting patiently for God to grow him.
Our community has a friend named Evan Moon that is battling brain cancer. One Monday night was his actual birthday so we called him on FaceTime to sing Happy Birthday. We decided to sing in as many languages as possible. Guess who wanted to go first AND sing the English version?? Micah. Completely by himself and in front of everyone, Micah sang with zeal and LOUD, the happy birthday song to Evan. God grew him up!
The other day he stopped by the office with his mom for one thing, but Micah wanted to do another thing. He asked to help with prepping the food boxes. He wanted to help load the completed boxes in the truck. He jumped in and started serving. Micah chose to serve. God grew him up!
Another day we had a big drum circle and everyone played drums, making music to the Lord together. Guess who beat drums – yea, Micah.
At a community gathering there was a huge container of fresh salad, beautiful, and healthy. Guess who heaped their plate?! The kid who previously only ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches was walking around with a plate of salad. No lie! God grew him up.
Today Micah’s growth is evident as he distributes fruit and veggies in food boxes while teaching other kids how to do it. He has learned how to break down boxes for recycling, will gather the eggs from the chicken coop, learned how to water and feed the chickens, and if you listen really close, you will hear him singing as we worship.
And what about camping? If a child could sign up, Micah might push everyone out of the way, to sign up first. He rides his bike, builds sandcastles, explores and collects sticks with all his friends. He will run past you, and if you say hello, he may not even hear you because he’s having so much fun!
His depth of love for people is growing. He is noticing what others like and don’t like. He is building friendships with other community members. He is learning how to listen and how to contribute. God is constantly growing Micah up.
As we watch kids like Micah growing up, let us be inspired to grow up too. Where is God trying to grow us and how can we surrender to let Him do His thing in our hearts, our attitudes, and how we manage our time?! If we want to see growth, all we have to do is stand back and watch, because God is doing His thing in lives all around us. Friends like Micah – they make us better!
“So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” – 1 Corinthians 3:7
As adults we can be so presumptuous, like we know what’s best, all the time.
God teaches us that we can plant and water, but He will make things grow. As any parent would amen, there’s so much relief in knowing we don’t have to make things grow. The design is for us to plant, cultivate, nurture and care. So let’s all take a deep breath in and a huge exhale. The results are not on us!
One hidden treat of being around Grace Klein Community is watching the growth happen. Growth has a variety of faces, the shelves of canned food, tomato plants, feathers on a chicken, recycling bin, compost heap, volume of food distributed, quantity of volunteers, how many times the floor is swept, taped boxes, broken down boxes, more grey hairs, taller children, longer listening, business and ministry partners, prayer lists, God stories, brokenness, laughter, depth of friendships… on and on is the proof of growth.
We are easily oblivious to the growth around us, trucking along with our days, our checklists, and our plans. Sharing a bag of pears, being a part of the plan, but our heart and mind missing a bigger picture. Or maybe we see the kids running around, in our peripheral vision, but we do not really see them or all the growth in them.
Have you ever heard any of these prayer phrases…
Lord, break my heart for what breaks yours.
Give me eyes to see.
Teach me to love like you, Lord.
Make me like Jesus.
One way we can grow in Jesus is to notice how God, not us, makes things grow. He is constantly growing each of us, growing our ability to love, our work ethic, our eyes to see pain around us, our depth of understanding, wisdom to be quiet and listen, etc.
As we consider the children in Grace Klein Community, there is a lot of growing going on! Obviously the growing bigger part – kids are learning to crawl, walk, requiring the next size of clothes, taller, shoes become too small. Of even greater delight, they are growing in how they express themselves, in deliberate listening, education, sharing, giving, chores. Many children are growing in Jesus, they are hearing his voice, experiencing conviction, loving sacrificially and considering others above themselves.
If there was a mandated happy dance, all the parents would run out in the rain and celebrate every growth because sometimes it seems so impossible that a child will wash the dishes without being asked, share a favorite toy with their brother, complete their math worksheet, make their bed, offer to pray for a friend or ask to serve anyone besides themselves. (How does God put up with all of us, especially us stubborn adults, and grow us up in spite of ourselves?? But that’s another story. Anyway…)
A great example of “growing up” is one of our community members, Micah Elliott. His parents, and other friends and family, started planting and watering into him when he was born. He probably went along to deliver his first box of food when he was in a baby seat carried by his daddy. He helped distribute apples in the food boxes when he first began to walk. He was shy and his mama probably walked beside him showing him which box to do next. When he came to his first community campout, he was completely miserable, his homebody self wanting to be home. He came to prayer night and that look on his face said, “don’t call on me.”
Sometimes kid growth is awkward, creative and messy. A child may not really want to grow and the parent has to have the resolve to keep giving them opportunities for growth and trusting God to do the growth. Micah was one of those boys. He didn’t really seem to love the idea of serving and would even ask to go to the bathroom in hopes of avoiding a little of the opportunities. He is an introvert and the volume of people and the changing scenarios probably felt too much. But his parents gently kept at it, giving him one opportunity after the next, and waiting patiently for God to grow him.
Our community has a friend named Evan Moon that is battling brain cancer. One Monday night was his actual birthday so we called him on FaceTime to sing Happy Birthday. We decided to sing in as many languages as possible. Guess who wanted to go first AND sing the English version?? Micah. Completely by himself and in front of everyone, Micah sang with zeal and LOUD, the happy birthday song to Evan. God grew him up!
The other day he stopped by the office with his mom for one thing, but Micah wanted to do another thing. He asked to help with prepping the food boxes. He wanted to help load the completed boxes in the truck. He jumped in and started serving. Micah chose to serve. God grew him up!
Another day we had a big drum circle and everyone played drums, making music to the Lord together. Guess who beat drums – yea, Micah.
At a community gathering there was a huge container of fresh salad, beautiful, and healthy. Guess who heaped their plate?! The kid who previously only ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches was walking around with a plate of salad. No lie! God grew him up.
Today Micah’s growth is evident as he distributes fruit and veggies in food boxes while he teaches other kids how to do it, he has learned how to break down boxes for recycling, will gather the eggs from the chicken coop, has learned how to water and feed the chickens, and if you listen really close, you will hear him singing as we worship.
And what about camping? If a child could sign up, Micah might push everyone out of the way, to sign up first. He rides his bike, builds sandcastles, explores and collects sticks with all his friends. He will run past you, and if you say hello, he may not even hear you because he’s having so much fun!
His depth of love for people is growing. He is noticing what others like and don’t like. He is building friendships with other community members. He is learning how to listen and how to contribute. God is constantly growing Micah up.
As we watch kids like Micah growing up, let us be inspired to grow up too. Where is God trying to grow us and how can we surrender to let Him do His thing in our hearts, our attitudes, and how we manage our time?! If we want to see growth, all we have to do is stand back and watch, because God is doing His thing in lives all around us. Friends like Micah – they make us better!
“So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” – 1 Corinthians 3:7
As we consider the children in Grace Klein Community, there is a lot of growing going on! Obviously the growing bigger part – kids are learning to crawl, walk, requiring the next size of clothes, taller, shoes become too small. Of even greater delight, they are growing in how they express themselves, in deliberate listening, education, sharing, giving, chores. Many children are growing in Jesus, they are hearing his voice, experiencing conviction, loving sacrificially and considering others above themselves.
A great example of “growing up” is one of our community members, Micah Elliott. His parents, and other friends and family, started planting and watering into him when he was born. He probably went along to deliver his first box of food when he was in a baby seat carried by his daddy. He helped distribute apples in the food boxes when he first began to walk. He was shy and his mama probably walked beside him showing him which box to do next. When he came to his first community campout, he was completely miserable, his homebody self wanting to be home. He came to prayer night and that look on his face said, “don’t call on me.”
The other day he stopped by the office with his mom for one thing, but Micah wanted to do another thing. He asked to help with prepping the food boxes. He wanted to help load the completed boxes in the truck. He jumped in and started serving. Micah chose to serve. God grew him up!
His depth of love for people is growing. He is noticing what others like and don’t like. He is building friendships with other community members. He is learning how to listen and how to contribute. God is constantly growing Micah up.