The Seeds I Almost Didn’t Plant
A few years ago, during what would likely be the last Christmas I spent with my mother, she gave me a necklace.
It was older than I was-something I remembered admiring as a child. A small glass ball, held together by a thin gold band, with a single mustard seed inside. The gold was worn and fading, but the seed remained intact.
She told me she had bought it when she was around seventeen, after spotting it in a variety store and feeling like she had to have it.
It was the last gift I opened from her that Christmas.
Not long after, old patterns returned. She began connecting with my other siblings, and once again, I found myself on the outside. The necklace went into my jewelry box-not out of anger, but because it had become a reminder of a relationship I couldn’t fix.
Around that same season, I was struggling to understand why I still couldn’t walk nearly a year after my first hip replacement. Healing was supposed to be behind me. Instead, pain lingered, unanswered and heavy.
I turned to my sister-in-law, Roseann, asking the same question over and over.
Why does it feel like I’m suffering while everyone else is getting better?
We talked often, searching for meaning. And each time, the same gentle answer surfaced: Maybe God has a plan.
One day, while pouring encouragement into me, Roseann quoted Matthew 17:20":
“For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed…”
But in that moment, I couldn’t receive it.
It felt too close to the hurt.
Choose another verse, I told her.
Then came the knot in my leg. The discovery of the infection. Months passed.
And unexpectedly, Roseann sent me a video-about the mustard seed.
It challenged everything I thought I knew.
We often focus on the size of the mustard seed-faith so small it can move mountains. But in biblical ties, the mustard plant was known for something else entirely.
Though it began as the smallest seed, it grew into one of the largest plants in the garden. Once rooted, it spread aggressively.
Where it grew mattered. The soil mattered.
And suddenly, I saw it differently.
Faith isn’t just about how much we have-its about where we place it.
Not long after that, I began wearing my mustard seed necklace again.
Life didn’t get suddenly easier. I didn’t skip into healing or understanding. But in the quiet an idea formed- a desire to thank my sister for how she had nurtured my growth when I couldn’t do it myself.
But this time, I felt she needed more than one seed.
So I made her a necklace with three mustard seeds:
One for her own faith
One to plant in others, just as she had done for me
And one as a reminder that even when things feel hopeless, God is still working
I added a cross-not because we have it all figured out, but because Jesus paid it all when we never could.
What began as a gift for one woman who stood beside me slowly became something more.
At first, I shared the necklaces with people who loved me, easy enough. Then I started noticing people who felt like they needed hope.
Before I realized it, I had passed out over a hundred, some necklaces, some keychians.
The earliest ones included handwritten notes. Eventually, those notes grew into printed scripture. Conversations followed. Questions followed.
And fear followed too.
I won’t pretend I was confident. The more I shared, the more exposed I felt. I even gave them to longtime Christians, people who could quote Scripture effortlessly and reason through theology with ease.
Instead of dismissing it, they encouraged it.
One simple conversation about faith gave me the language to explain something I had learned myself:
a relationship with Jesus isn’t a gate kept for the qualified, it’s an open door.
Scripture
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (ASV)
“He hath made everything beautiful in its time: also he hath set eternity in their heart, yet so that man cannot find out the work that God hath done from the beginning even to the end.”
Scripture Summary
This verse reminds us that God works with intention and timing far beyond our own understanding. What feels delayed, unfinished, or confusing to us is not overlooked by Him. He is always at work, shaping beauty in its proper time.
God places longings in our hearts before we fully understand them, allowing seasons to unfold slowly. Even when we cannot see the full picture, we can trust that His work is purposeful from beginning to end.
Why This Matters
When life feels heavy or uncertain, it’s easy to believe that waiting means nothing is happening. We look for clarity, resolution, or healing, and when it doesn’t come quickly discouragement can take root.
But God does not rush growth, and He does not waste seasons. Even when we don’t understand what he is doing, He is preparing us-tending the soil of our hearts and shaping us for what is to come.
Faith doesn’t have to be loud or confident to be real. Sometimes it looks like quietly holding on, trusting that God’s timing is intentional and that what He is doing now will make sense in time.
Reflection Questions
Can you think of a past season that felt difficult or confusing at the time, but later revealed growth you couldn’t see then?
Is there something in your life that once felt out of place, but now seems to have served a purpose in preparing you?
Have you ever been given something-a reminder, a relationship, or an experience-that didn’t make sense at first, but became meaningful later?
Where might God be inviting you to trust His timing, even if the full picture isn’t clear yet?
Rooted Reminder
God’s timing is not rushed or forgotten. Even when we don’t understand the season we’re in, He is working with intention-preparing our hearts and making room for growth in His time.
Prayer
Father,
When I don’t understand the timing of my life, help me trust that You do. Teach me to rest in Your wisdom when answers feel distant and growth feels slow. Prepare my heart, tend the soil within me, and help me place my faith in You-even when I cannot yet see what will grow.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
