Tiny Seeds

Gianna and her cousins were spending the day at Grandpa's house. "Will you measure us, Grandpa?" asked Alex. "I want to see how tall I am.""All right." Grandpa followed them to the wall where he had been measuring them since they were toddlers. He made a mark on the wall for each of them and wrote their name and the date beside it."I'm the tallest!" exclaimed Alex."Gianna, you're not even as tall as I was when I was nine, and you're ten!" said Joy."Gianna is a shortie," said Alex, grinning. Gianna's cheeks grew hot. She hated being teased for her size."Enough!" said Grandpa. "Come with me." He led the cousins to his garden shed. "Hold out your hands."Grandpa placed a large white seed in Alex's hand, a smaller yellow seed in Joy's hand, and a tiny black seed in Gianna's hand.Of course I get the tiny, unimportant seed, Gianna thought. Just like me.Grandpa pointed to an open gardening book. "Alex, tell us about your seed.""My seed is a lima bean," Alex said, looking at the information in the book. "They grow into plants that are fifteen inches to nine feet tall." Alex looked at the seed in his hand. "This seed is tiny to grow so big!""Let me see mine," said Joy, pushing Alex aside. "My seed is corn. The plants grow seven to ten feet tall. That's bigger than yours, Alex!"Alex frowned. "But your seed is smaller than mine!""My seed is a mustard seed," said Gianna. "It grows a tree twenty feet tall. It produces purple fruit, and in some places people use the branches to brush their teeth.""No way!" said Alex. "All that from a tiny seed?""It isn't how big the seed is that matters," said Grandpa. "What matters is what God created it to do." He smiled at the kids. "That's true for us too. The Bible says those who have faith in Jesus are new creations. He's made us new people and given us the Holy Spirit to help us do the good things He wants us to do."Gianna thought about the tiny seed growing into an amazing tree. It wasn't unimportant after all. "If this seed can grow a tree," she said, smiling, "just imagine what we can do!"- Tracey Eagan