The smell of vine-ripened tomatoes will always send me back to my childhood in Papua New Guinea, and holding on tight to my dad on the back of a motorbike. As the rays of golden hour streamed across the road, we would make our way through the dusty streets to the veggie gardens. You could be forgiven for thinking that having spent so much time in the gardens some of the talent of the gardeners would have rubbed off, alas, I just ended up covered in dirt.
Recently, under the mentorship of my more green-thumbed friends, I have ventured back into the world of sunshine and gardens. Over the holidays I was introduced to the beauty of growing microgreens. After only a couple of days of planting, we were able to see the tiny sprouts lift up the heavy weight we had placed on them. We then put them in a dark cupboard where their search for sunlight made them grow tall and strong.
Under the heavy weight, and in the darkness, something in the DNA of the little seeds told them that if they kept struggling hard enough, and searching long enough they would reach sunlight. That hope kept them growing. If only half of them germinated they wouldn’t have had the strength to lift the weight off, it was the collective effort that brought success. If they stopped their search for life-giving light they would not have been able to grow tall and strong.
Those tiny seeds showed me the power of hope. Hope in the struggle. Hope in spite of the struggle. They used the weight to make them stronger and the darkness to grow taller.
The writer of Hebrews says that we can have "great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us" (Hebrews 6:18). When we are weighed down and walking through darkness, may we remember that we are not alone. We have a Father in heaven who knows the end from the beginning and gives us all we need to come out the other side stronger for it.
Miss Karlie Fraser
Stage 5 Coordinator
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