Editor’s Note: Throughout 2019, the West Virginia Conference Stewardship Team will offer a brief reflection for each season which contains three seeds:
- A theme for the season
- A scriptural reflection
- A story bearing witness to stewardship
The following is the second installment in this seasonal stewardship series.
By George Webb,
Conference Stewardship Coordinator
Season of Harvest
We always relate fall to harvest time. Seeing the summer turn the harvest baskets from empty to full. Reaping the rewards of the warm sun and enough rain. Holding out hands, buckets and baskets to gather in the zucchini, squash and tomatoes is well worth the wait. “Home Grown Tomatoes” by John Denver is my theme song. As a steward of what God has given me, let me expect a full harvest if I have planted the seeds.
The Word for Fall
Mark 4:27-28
[…] Night and day he sleeps and wakes, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he knows not how. All by itself the earth produces a crop — first the stalk, then the head, then grain that ripens within. And as soon as the grain is ripe, he swings the sickle, because the harvest has come.” […]
The Fall Witness: Patience & Practice
Stewardship takes patience as well as practice. By His own power God will produce harvest if we will plant the seed…just as our farmer friend in the verses above realized. Not all seeds get the same advantage and the soil must be ready for receiving the seed. Then it needs work by folks to grow.
At Humphreys Memorial out on Rt. 21 North in the “real” Sissonville, we were given the seed idea of becoming a resource for a backpack program. The bi-weekly program would send home some food that kids in need could get to for the weekend.
Our church is not that big in number—30-35 average attendance on Sunday—but we are big in faith. So we agreed to take it on, providing about 100 packs at two different schools.
We planted some seeds about the needs. We prayed, and we got some great leadership to head it up. A few of our parish churches agreed to participate early on and we got enough resources to get started.
We did not know how it would survive or be sustainable, so we just prayed for God to lead, provide and bless these kids. Changes in folks who can help and give do happen. Often we have wondered if we would be able to do it again the next month.
But as we have found out, God does provide the harvest. Laborers are few sometimes, but the harvest happens.
It is a life lesson for me through this Backpack of Love program that God teaches me other spiritual stewardship lessons.
We saw the need. We prayed. We planted some seeds. We did the work.
Then God provided the harvest.
I am always amazed that at just the right time, the money and resources we need show up. Praise the Lord.
This has got to be a basic pattern for all stewardship.