It Takes A Lot Of Seeds To Grow A Forest

Many years ago, when Gail and I built the home in which I now live, our realtor gave us a gift certificate to Stauffers of Kissel Hill. With that gift, we purchased a maple tree. I love maple trees, probably because there were two in my front yard and one in the back during my childhood. I love trees in general, but maples have a special place in my heart.

I remember once, my parents decided the trees needed severe pruning, so they hired someone to do the job. I sat peering out the picture window in the living room and cried. How could they do that to my trees, I thought. Of course, in a couple of years, they became more beautiful than ever.

That tree, planted in my front yard, now stands about fifty feet tall, and the trunk is nearly three feet thick. It’s a big boy now! If you own a maple, you know that you will experience two events every year: raking lots of leaves in the fall and watching the tree cover the ground with “whirlybirds” in the spring. (Some folks call them helicopters.) The technical name for these flying seeds is “samara.”

Whirlybirds “whirl” so they can easily be carried by the wind away from the mother tree, where they have a chance to create a new maple tree. This phenomenon is another little miracle of nature.

Well, God knew what He was doing, at least in my yard. There are now five large maple trees surrounding my home, and I love it. Raking leaves is a small price to pay to enjoy these spectacular plants.

This year, my mother tree produced far more helicopters than usual. I learned that the tree knows to do this every few years when squirrels and other whirly seed eaters overeat their potential to reproduce. Is that not cool?! Maple trees are smart and wily enough to outwit those rascally long-tailed munchers. When we moved into this new neighborhood, there were no squirrels, but now there are dozens. The trees in the development became large enough to become a food source for all kinds of creatures.

I also love squirrels, except when they raid my birdfeeders. Then I shout curses down on their little heads.

Observing this miracle of nature year after year reminds me of a critical life lesson. If you want to reap a harvest, you’ve got to plant a lot of seeds. Seeds represent hope, and for hope to turn into joy, one must diligently plant, plant, plant, and then wait, wait, wait. In a world where so many benefits are nearly instant, we sometimes struggle with the waiting. Sometimes, we get so tired of planting and not seeing fruit we give up. 

We get tired of working so hard to make our marriage better. We labor at a job for years and seem to be going nowhere. We study diligently and see no certificate. We eat right and exercise hard, but the pounds remain around our waist. We pour into someone’s life, but they do not respond to or appreciate our efforts 

I now have daughters in their thirties and forties. Woe, how did that happen? All four are fine, strong, faith-filled women, and I could not be prouder of them. Gail and I planted many seeds with immense hope that they would one-day “whirl” into the world and make it a better place. They are doing just that. People often tell me I “did a good job” with my daughters. I appreciate the compliment, but I’m not sure what I did. I just tried to be a good dad, and I tend to recall the times when I wasn’t so good.

But, with every word, action, emotion, and decision, Gail and I were planting seeds. Most of the time, it didn’t feel like we were doing anything particularly unusual as we helped them grow up. Planting seeds is not glamorous work. But if you want to reap a harvest, you’ve got to put in the labor. 

That big ole maple tree has seen a lot through the years. It has weathered drought, wind, freezing cold, blazing sun, bugs, and squirrels to grow strong and produce prodigy. If trees could talk, I think the old timer would proudly proclaim it was worth it.

In every area of your life, you are planting seeds every day. Most of the time, it’s just plain old hard work. But when you get discouraged or feel like giving up, remember it takes a lot of seeds to produce a harvest, so just keep planting.

Live Inspired!

Don Mark