by Pete and Sandy Singer

Far more important than any seeds we plant in the soil are the seeds we plant in the hearts of those we love. 

I was only 6 years old, just learning to read Dick and Jane books, when my grandpa planted an important seed of faith in my life: my very first Bible.

It wasn’t white, like a typical little girl’s Bible. It was black and well-read, with passages underlined in red and grandpa’s scribbled notes across most of its pages.

Six years later, I received Jesus as my savior. As the years passed, I lost track of that Bible. Decades would go by before I embraced the forgotten book as one of my most treasured possessions.

The Bible slipped back into my grip when our daughter pulled it from a long-forgotten box of books. “Just add it to the pile I’m donating,” I said. “Our bookshelves hold more Bibles than we can read in 10 lifetimes.” 

“No, mom.” Tia placed the musty-smelling tome in my hand. “You don’t want to give this away.”

I opened the rodent-nibbled cover, and my grandpa’s handwriting lit the page. “Sandra, may the dear Lord bless you.”

Tears fell on those sacred yellowed pages. Across the top of one page, Grandpa had written: “He will not cast you out. John 6:37.”

As a young person, I had run from religion. I thought about the many nights my grandpa must have clung to that promise. I can’t imagine where my life would be without the seeds of deliberate prayer and the endeavors of my seed-planting grandparents.

What about our children, grandchildren and others we love? What about those who come into our lives for only a moment of time? Are we deliberately planting seeds of faith in their lives?

The faith seeds we sow today are the most important seeds we will ever plant. They are seeds that will be harvested not for a single season, but for eternity.

The Singers work for Fellowship of Christian Farmers International and live in Punta Gorda, Fla.