Saturday, November 15, 2008

What I learned from a papaya

The transition from Kenya to Uganda, like most changes in life, has come with a balance of giving and receiving. One of the biggest blessings is again as a family being part of a real Calvary chapel church; that to me that is priceless. But on the other hand we have not really been able to find a place to purchase safe meat. Lets see church or meat; living bread or steak – to me that is a no brainer.

Sometimes the blessings are hidden at first and then with time are revealed. One such gift that I have just recently began to appreciate is the previous tenant. The last renter loved flowers, plants and just anything green. She actually started a botanical garden here in town. So the compound is filled with all sorts of different types of trees, plants, flowers etc. Call me practical but my favorite type of plants are ones that bear fruit. Just the other day as I was preparing breakfast I cut open a papaya that came from our compound. This literately was our first fruits. It is hard to explain but a sense of pride seemed to come over me and the Lord began to give me a picture of what it means to sow and to reap.

For the last few years now we have been doing a lot of moving and changing of ministry. And anyone who lives a transient life understands it is hard to put down roots and then move on. Before moving to Africa we sold our house and I remember one of the harder things for us was to know that we would never experience picking apples off the tress we had planted. Again in Kenya the last time we planted a garden and left just as the harvest season began. You invest your time, money, sweat into something and yet never get to experience the joy of the harvest.

The same phenomenon occurs in ministry just ask anyone who works with children. Many times you pour your heart into the children in your ministry only to see the fruit start to form but often miss out on the real harvest. In Kenya I spent over a year investing in a relationship with the guys that I bought fruit from. Over that period of time I never saw anything amazing happen but just continued to faithfully to let them know that we cared and then we left. (As a side note, I just found out that three of the five fruit guys in Kitale currently enrolled in the bible training that Isaac’s dad and mom are doing there!)

So what does this all have to do with a papaya… well at that moment I found myself on the other end – I was now benefiting from someone else’s sowing. I did not plant that papaya tree nor did I tend to it, weed it, water it, or fertilize it. When we got here the fruit was ready for the picking and the fruit was sweet! (Actually the best I have ever had.)

I think for me God was trying to show me how selfish I am. I want the benefit of my labor but often that is not his plan lest I would boast. My success is not dependent on my harvest but my faithfulness in the sowing. He encouraged me and I encourage you to be faithful not growing wearing in doing good whatever your ministry (especially to you mothers out there). On earth we may never experience the harvest of our labor but in heaven when we see the fruit of our faithful sowing it will be more than worth all the hard work. Jesus said it right in John 4:36 “And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.”

5 comments:

Laura said...

O.K. call me thick. I didn't realize you had started your own blog! Wahoo! I'm so glad I can keep up with you this way now! I need to tell Karen to start one from the DR so we can keep up with doings there, too.

How is your girl? Is she recovering yet from the stomach ick? Love and prayers coming your way (well, really God's way, but you know what I mean). Tell your mom I said "Hi". Does she have a blog, too?

Kahlua Keeping Koala said...

Hi Thick. I'm KKK, nice to meet you! I thought I'd let everyone know... OOPS, now I have to repost to TCHF about the PTL about Lulu who is 100 % better...

Papaya: That's why I don't get the good feelings all the time...

Debbie said...

Clea thanks for sharing. It is always so interesting to me to see how the Lord teaches us in our daily living - I am also envious, in a sense, of the quietness & focus that you have in your life. We have so many distractions that a lesson as sweet and as simple as the papaya can often get overlooked in our "gotta go, gotta do" mentality in the states. You can be our ears for many of those sweet whispers of the Lord - thank you and love you. Deb

Paige said...

I was gonna write something profound, but I see Debbie beat me to it! She took the words right out of my mouth! It's just amazing that God can teach us a lesson from something simple like a papaya.

Kelli said...

thanks for the reminder. something that's hard for us to remember sometime.
Lord help us to not grow weary in well doing!
love and miss you guys!