A Little Garden

It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.

Matthew 13:32 (ESV)

Although they didn’t own a garden, my parents were always planting seeds. Little seeds, not of grain or fruit, but of faith. Their sowing often took the form of real-life stories.

Dad would tell me about walking for two hours to school, across rocky roads and muddy fields in his village in Mangalore, about coming to Mumbai as a young boy with very little knowledge of English and no college degree, and about how despite all this, God made great things happen for him.

Mum’s stock of stories was inexhaustible. She shared memories of a simple faith learnt from her parents, of choosing God's ways rather than her own, of prayers that saved my life and hers. These stories instilled in me a faith whose roots went deep deep down into the innermost soil of my heart. They formed the bedrock of my life.

Fast-forward a few decades and I found myself sharing my own stories and listening to friends share theirs, often over a cup of chai or coffee. We shared our hearts – the joys and struggles of living out our calling to become better spouses, parents, and disciples.

The Smallest of Seeds is a project that took root in my heart over many such cuppas. These sometimes-thoughtful, sometimes-animated conversations sparked in me the desire to reach out to others who, like me, are trying to run the good race. To become everything that God has called us to be.

And that is why I am here in this quiet corner of the Internet. To offer what little I have, even if it be the smallest of seeds.

The Kingdom parable of the mustard seed, to which this blog owes its name, is just two verses tucked inside a rich gospel full of bigger events and miracles. But it holds a truth that has echoed through my life again and again: that much of the work God does in our lives begins with the small and the unseen. A child’s question. A late-night act of forgiveness. A Psalm that calls out to us. A friend whose gentle guidance convicts our hearts. The tender Gardener gently helps us along with tiny seeds of grace, sown in these little moments.

“In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.”

Saint Teresa of Kolkata

In this little patch of the Internet, my own little garden so-to-speak, I hope to plant tiny seeds of faith, hope and love in the heart of anyone who stops by. I pray He works while I write.

After all, I am simply called to do the sowing. It is He who makes the plant grow.

~ Velany