Watering the Soil

It was raining and cold, my least favorite weather combination for standing on the sidewalks of the abortion mill calling out to women to encourage them to choose another option than abortion. However, I wore my warmest coat, my neon green bombardier hat with fuzzy ear flaps, and my umbrella hat on top of that. It is surprising that a few cars did stop on the way into the abortion mill parking lot -- my outfit apparently didn't scare them off. And no one laughed at me. Except my fellow counselors.

Two women chose life, quietly driving away when they realized what they were planning to do was not right. Compared to some of the "saves" at that abortion mill, those decisions were low key, and undramatic...at least for us here on earth. In heaven, I suspect there was singing and dancing, and high-fiving, with maybe a few rounds of halo tossing into the air.

Two men had come from the porch of the abortion mill to talk at length with us. One was an atheist, who believed abortion was wrong, but it was not his right to interfere. The other was a self-avowed Christian, who also felt abortion was wrong but it was not his right to interfere. I chimed in now and then in the discussions, but mostly, since the discussions went on for about an hour with our men counselors, I was on the periphery. I wanted to spend the time I had trying to stop as many women as I could from entering that place. But I love debate, and I had half an ear open to the mens' discussion.

I was soaked as we finally dispersed, but I had one more errand for the day. I was taking a donated crib to a young couple that had chosen life over abortion a couple of weeks earlier. I drove to their apartment building, and when I walked in, she was under covers lying on her couch. She looked very pale and thin.
"Morning sickness?" I asked.
"All day sickness," she groaned. Still, she held out her thin arms and hugged me.
"It will be worth it," I assured her, "I was sick all 9 months with all three of my kids...it was worth it. But I know how you feel. Most women feel better after the first trimester. You are almost there."
She nodded weakly.
I had counseled this couple when I first met them about God's plan for a purposeful life, as well as for purity, and intimacy to be reserved for after marriage. I confided to my sidewalk friend that I was a little disappointed to see they were still living together, unmarried.
"You plant seeds," she advised, "One thing at a time. They made the right decision not to abort. That is the first step."

As I drove home, I thought about the morning's events.

I had learned something. I had asked the men counselors later if they got anywhere with the young men in which they had engaged in discussion for such a long time. Neither felt that any visible progress was made, but they both said that didn't matter. What mattered is that seeds were planted. Someone else might "water the soil" down the road. What the counselors hoped was that the young men would think about what had been discussed.

It is not easy for me to leave a discussion without having changed someone's mind when I am certain I am right. Incremental progress requires a patience that doesn't come easily to me. Yet, Jesus Himself teaches us that sometimes change is a process. When He restores sight to the blind man, He does so in stages.
Mark 8:22-25

22They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 23He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”

24He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”

25Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly

As I drove home considering all this, the rain fell in torrents. Watering the ground. Sometimes we are planting the seeds, someone else will water, and perhaps someone else, far down the road, will see the first shoots poke their tender heads from the soil. The revelation lifted a burden that I had not been aware I had been carrying.

We may only plant seeds...but what a seed!

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Galatians 6:9 

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Psalm 126:6

He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

James 5:7 

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.

1 Corinthians 3:6-9 

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.