Seeds and seasons
Seasons
Seeds are the tiny beginnings of exciting new seasons! When one season nears its end, there is always another one waiting to begin. Seeds and seasons cannot be separated. My season stretching from Tokyo 2020 to the Paris 2024 Paralympics, was a tough, but rewarding one in many ways. Something that stood out for me at the Paris Paralympics recently, was when I entered the stadium for the 200 m and the French crowd cheered when their athlete was introduced. I could feel how that tangible passion for their country lifted the French athlete.
A taste of Paris
To get a taste of what my experience was in Paris, have a look at the following
https://www.facebook.com/reel/3800252856962618
In a tough 200 m final I finished 7th. In the 400m final I managed to take 4th position in a strong field of athletes, which was still a blessing. In the 100m final I ran to 8th place.
Victories and defeat are a part of life. But being at the Paralympics where worlds collide it becomes evident how broken we all are. Sometimes all we need is love. For me there is no truer love that the love of Jesus Christ – in our victories and in our defeats. What matters is Jesus in the present – right now. He is in our season NOW.
Be passionate
While in Paris, I was reading a book by Ed Delph called “Richly blessed, deeply loved, highly favoured, amazingly graced”. Something in the book that resonated with me during the Paris games was Delph’s take on, as he put it, ‘growing past passivity’. He speaks of a God who is passionate for His creation. Jesus Christ lived, died and rose again because of his passion for us. We are God’s creation and His vessels and He is passionate about us. That’s tangible – much bigger but in a way can be likened to how the French crowd’s passion for their athlete was tangible. Remember, God is passionate about you! He is eagerly watching how the seeds He provides are going to open up new and fruitful seasons in your life.
Tomorrow
So as one season passes and I face a new one, that’s where I am now: reminded to live with fierce passionate determination for tomorrow.
Seeds and a new season
With 2024 coming to a close, it marks the end of a season and the beginning of a new one. So we prepare ourselves for what lies ahead. As in all aspects of life, be it family, business or sport, we must prepare the ground.
Preparing the ground
So we have begun preparing the ground to sow our next batch of Protea cynaroides seeds. Seeds that hold potential to become beautiful, hardy plants producing stunning flowers that last longer than most. Seeds that undergo great changes in temperature from cold to hot to activate the potential for growth. Seeds sown in soil perfectly suited to the potential plants’ needs. Seeds watered optimally (not too much and not too little) to provide perfect conditions for growth.
While sowing the seeds, I paused for a moment, holding a small, furry, torpedo-like protea seed between my thumb and forefinger. Then I put it into the tiny furrow I had made. I gently covered it with a thin layer of soil. I could no longer see the seed. I thought … it’s like faith.
Faith
And so we wait in faith for potential to become a seedling and later a plant.
This is how faith works. The evidence of things not seen. A protea seed has the potential to become a protea plant. Nurtured in ideal conditions the seedling becomes the evidence of the potential that was invisible for a while.
We look forward to a new season’s seedlings. We eagerly wait to see what our yield will be. As the portion in Mark 4:20 explains: “And these are they which are sown on good ground, such as hear the Word and receive it and bring forth fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty and some an hundred.”
Get set
Yes. There is more to come. The best is always ahead if you believe that every season can be your best.