Spring. A great time to plant a garden.
This spring
we decided to have a couple of activity days for our kids to learn to help
others in the community. One day kids came
to my house to plant a garden. Really, I
just have a couple of garden boxes. But
most of these kids have never had a chance to dig in the dirt or picked up a
tool like a shovel or hoe. Noticing that
“work” was introduced in God’s perfect garden before sin, I have been impressed
over that last few years at what a gift “work” is. And I love it when kids get to see the fruit of their labor.
What better place to see “fruit” than in a garden?
We were a
little disappointed with the turnout for our workday; that is until we noticed
Tello was there. Tello, one of the
hardest kids in Homework Club (HW), is in middle school. And if that isn’t hard enough, his dad is in
a gang. I’ve heard reports that Tello
joined the gang too, and has been involved in illegal
behavior and beating kids up. His
attitude has definitely been hard. Our
HW kids have been concerned! We have
encouraged them to pray for him.
Working next
to Tello on our garden project, 4th grader Ferdinando mentioned that
the dad he lives with now isn’t his “real dad” and the ensuing conversation
went something like this:
Tello asked,
“Oh, when did your real dad leave you?”
“He didn’t
leave me,” Ferdinando shared. “He was murdered, when I was like 1 year old. He’s in
heaven.”
“Oh yeah? Or burning in hell!” Tello quipped.
Ferdinando’s
whole face lit up, “No he’s not in hell.
I know he’s in heaven! He loved
Jesus! I’m going to see him again
someday.”
“Yeah? But he
was murdered. He probably did [AC1] a bunch of bad stuff, or he wouldn’t
have gotten killed!” Tello knew.
“It doesn’t
matter if he did a bunch of bad stuff.
He loved Jesus. And Jesus died to
forgive him for everything he ever did.
I know I’m going to see him again!” Ferdinando shared his simple faith.
Tello looked
up at a nearby leader, confusion written all over his face.
“It’s true!”
Sharing a couple of Bible verses, the leader confirmed what Tello had just
heard.
Tello tilted his head at Ferdinando, smiling with a look of
acceptance on his face.
Ferdinando
had planted a seed; his simple assurance that Heaven and what Jesus did just
isn’t that complicated.
Have you
planted your garden yet?
*Names of children always changed.
