Seeds of Love – By Carolyn Hunt Watson

“Come and see the roses,” mother invited.  “They are beautiful and smell so good!”

My parents loved to share their beautiful landscaped yard with everyone.  They spent their retirement years working–too hard, I thought–on landscaping their two-acre yard. The rose bed contained over 100 rose bushes in varying colors.  They had planted numerous color-filled flower beds, created a landscaped goldfish pond, built a small bridge, and stocked the fishing pond which was ringed with alternating azaleas and Bridal Wreath shrubs.

Their yard became the showplace of our small town.  Strangers came to see it and to ask questions about how to plant or care for particular shrubs. Every year, high school students dressed in their prom finery and had their pictures taken there.  It was amazing.

My parents are in heaven now, and their home was sold several years ago.  Recently, I drove by it and grieved to see that all the beautiful flower beds and shrubs had been removed.  The goldfish pond was filled in, the bridge was gone, and an ugly fence  discouraged any visitors to the premises. All my parents’ hard work had been invested for nothing.  Tears blurred my vision.

But then, God spoke to my grief, tenderly reminding me that my parents had also planted eternal seeds:  love, faith, joy, prayer, and trust.  We children learned to love God, to serve others, and to be kind.  These are seeds that cannot be plowed under, pulled up, or destroyed.  They are seeds which will sprout, spread, and live forever.

My parents’ landscaping is gone, but the seeds they planted in our hearts sill remain.

Visit Carolyn’s website at carolynhuntwatson.com.