The Wheat Seed

Now and then I face a really tough moment in homeschooling. Sometimes a grumpy child, a disruption filled day, an academic concept that doesn't seem to sink further than a partial oral understanding despite repeated attempts.

At those moments, I need something to cling to. I need a foundation and a vision.

A year ago I received an interesting "gift" at the start of the homeschool year. At our homeschool support group they passed out a blue, glass bottle with the lid super-glued on. It said, "Homeschool Survival Kit," or something to that effect. The speaker (a homeschool dad) said to put this bottle on a shelf at home until you have "one of those" days. Somehow I made it through last school year without breaking that bottle. Yesterday, I had one of those moments. You know? When you feel like you are slipping back quicker than you are stepping forward?

I remembered the bottle.

I told my kids to continue their work the best they could and I would return shortly. I got the bottle, put it in a paper bag, and shattered it on my kitchen step. That in itself felt amazingly relieving. . .

Carefully reaching around the shards of glass, I pulled out the paper and began to read. This part stuck with me:

A grain of wheat seems so small, so insignificant. It wouldn't go very far toward feeding anyone, much less changing the world. Maybe you're feeling the same way right now -- small, insignificant, and unable to make much of an impact.

Jesus said in John 12:24, "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds."

This single grain of wheat, if planted, can multiply into other plants, and within 12 growing seasons, can produce 10 times more wheat than was harvested in the entire United States in 2006. It could produce about 22 billion bushels of wheat in 12 seasons. That's enough to feed the entire world. And all of that from a single grain of wheat. But in order to do that, the seed itself must fall to the ground and die.

Jesus went on to say in verses 25-26, "The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me."

Your life as a home school mom is a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. By serving God in this way, you are pouring out your life for others -- not just for your children, but for generation after generation that you may never see. Imagine what God will do through one obedient mother who is willing to give up this part of her life in service to Him.

I pray that these words would encourage you as they did me. The best moments are those spent on eternity regardless of how they appear in the earthly realm.