Faith Is Like a Little Seed

Last month in primary our weekly sharing times were centered around the fourth article of faith, which reads:

"We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second,Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost."

As a primary the children planted a few seeds and the plant was brought back each week to see how it had grown. As we did this I thought, "Hey! I can do that too!" (I really did think that with exclamation marks attached).

So, I went on my merry way to the grocery store one evening that week and bought all the stuff to plant our own little seeds. I have to tell you, I was clueless. This was the first experience that I have ever had with planting anything. The selection of soil alone had me staring in amazement. Who knew there were so many options for putting your precious plants in and how on earth was I to know which one to select. Well, being on a budget I went with what was in the smallest bag and also the cheapest. I was only planning on four small pots - so the 25 pounders were at least giving me one easy way to cut my options. I won't even begin to explain my distress when I came to the seed and potting varieties. Lets just say that I was there for a bit longer than I had originally intended.

Well, I finally selected some daisies and cosmos. I didn't even know what a cosmo was until I saw a pretty picture of it with a nice friendly label on top on the seed envelope - this was truly proving to be educational.

We did a simple little family home evening on what it means to have faith and we planted our seeds. I must say that it has been really fun to do. Every time we go out to water our little plants we have a little chat about how we have to build our faith in Jesus Christ with prayer, and by keeping the commandments, and with scripture study so that it will grow strong just like the seed needs water and air and soil to grow. I can't really attest to how much of it is seeping into their little brains. They are usually more concerned about getting equal opportunities with the watering can; but, I tend to try to have faith in the fact that these little lessons are the basis for something much bigger. :)

So there you go. A trip to the grocery store and you're good to go with your next family home evening. Oh, and if you are worried about not remembering to water your plants and letting your little seeds die just like every other plant you've ever tended; no worries there, your children will be so thrilled with the whole thing that they will be asking to water them at least five times a day.