My husband and I are Children's Pastors; we have a passion for the spiritual souls of not only our own children, but that of others. On Wednesday nights we use a curriculum called Keepers of the Home where we ask men and women to come in and teach a practical skill to the boys/girls and then we focus on a character devotion. The boys are studying Proverbs and us gals, well- we focus on biblical girlhood. Here is the devotion I wrote for tonight- I thought I'd save it here for posterity sake ;)
Once upon a time, a little seedling grew in a meadow with a heart full of hope for the day.
"Oh, I wish I would be picked today and be placed along with the lovely flowers on the center of a table to be admired and talked about! "
"Ha!" scoffed a voice nearby, "what makes a little seedling such as yourself think that anybody would care to place such an plain thing such as yourself in the center of their table?"
"It is only because you are a giant tree that you think you are important!" cried the little seedling as it stretched its neck to look all the way up the the crown of a great oak tree growing beside herself.
"Don't speak of things you know nothing of, little seedling. You just mind me. The longer you stay in your place, the deeper your roots go and soon you will find that you will be thankful you were never picked to be merely enjoyed for a day and then tossed away."
This made the little seedling angry and she choose not to listen to the good advice, She grew sad and bitter as the days went by and finally she thought she would not be happy unless she was admired just like the little flowers growing beside her.
One day, as she sat brooding, she noticed a little sprout shooting up from the ground beside her and as it shot it's little head up, and began to look about, the first seedling began to complain, "Oh, now I have some competition, I see! I see I will have to work even harder to look beautiful and flounce my head about when the little girl comes today because I'm sure it is not living unless I have been plucked from the ground and put into a vase along with all of the lovely flowers!"
"What!" cried the little voice of the smallest sprout, "How can you wish to be like those silly little flowers? As for me, I want to be lovely and grow large like Old Mother Oak here..."
"Shush! You are just a little thing, and know nothing! No, I don't wish to stay here day after day, year after year to be an ugly little seedling, doing nothing and not having an important role! I wish to be loved and admired !"
"Well, as for me," said the timid little sprout, "I wish to enjoy my littleness for a while longer and hide beneath the shelter of this lovely oak beside me. I want to be strong and glorious just like her !"
"Spoken wisely, little one." said the voice of the wise Old Mother Oak.
By and by, the little girl came as usual on her daily walk through the meadow to pick her flowers.
As she came to the shade of the majestic oak, she bent to pick a handful of morning glories and as she did so, the first vain little seedling, hiding beneath the head of a beautiful flower, was plucked along with with it.
As she was being carried away by the careless and tiny hands, she shouted out, "Ha! you see, Mother Oak, one can get what one wants if it is wanted badly enough!"
"Yes, one does get what one wants eventually, I suppose." said the Oak in a sad voice. For what the Wise oak knew was that the little girl came daily and plucked her flowers , but they were only to be forgotten beside a stream or rock as she explored the day. The flowers were never placed in a vase to be admired. Instead, they only grew thirstier and thirstier and eventually died a wilting death within a day.
As for the patient, little sprout, it contented itself with being who it was and learning from the wise old oak as much as she could. It laughed and enjoyed the days it lived year after year in love and happiness. But the day eventually came when she no longer could be called little any longer. Old Mother Oak had grown too old and feeble to live and so had passed all of her wisdom to the humble tree beside her.She submitted to death and had all of her limbs chopped down when at last she grew brittle and finally began to break.
"Bless the world with your lovely beauty, little lady!" She whispered as her poor broken limbs were finally carried away by the wood chopper.
"Thank you, dear oak!" said the lovely tree as the spring winds drew up life within her, "I will do all that you said and live my life as quietly and helpful as I can, never complaining when I am pruned and living my life for the purpose I was made for!"
And the beautiful tree waved and kisses the air as old mother oak was finally gone.
She grew to be the loveliest tree ever seen in the meadow. For she was really an apple tree who's seed was dropped by a bird all of those many years ago. In all of the country, there could not be found a more graceful and beautiful tree. Her fruits were the best that could be found and for the many years she lived, she blessed the lives of all who came to admire her. In the spring, she was like a bride covered in white blossoms, and her strong limbs were played on in the summer time by the children, and in the fall, her fruits were turned into pies for neighbors and cider was made to keep bodies warm in winter.
She never forgot the seedling who foolishly desired to be picked and become something she was never meant to be. And as little seedlings grew around her, she lovingly told the story of the useless death made by a foolish heart and hopefully kept others from desiring the same foolish wish.
Discussion:
What does it mean to be content with where you are?
Tell me a story about something you used to do when you were a little girl that made you feel grown up?
Girlhood is the time to make ready. Maturity and Independence come later. How did the first sprout show she did not make ready for her future? What was the result? How did the second sprout make ready? Who was the loveliest?
What are some ways you can make yourself ready for loveliness later?
Bible Scriptures to consider:
Proverbs: Is very black and white. Fools and Wise men and women. It gives us warnings and also exhorts us to be wise.
Proverbs 8: 17 "I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me."
Lets be wise and search for wisdom.
From Proverbs 31
" A wife of Noble character, who can find? She is worth far more than rubies"
This verse is a good preparatory verse to learn because a noble wife is not automatically made when they are married, they are trained. Contentment is learned when girls are young because when girls are young, they are tempted with the voices of the age to be unlike there mothers and godly wives one day, womanhood should be elevated and wives should be elevated so our girls desire a good thing when they wish to one day be wives and mothers. God is elevating wives here by stating that she is worth more than rubies! So, girls can be content with learning from lovely women to one day become lovely themselves.
How can you as a young woman learn from your Mom or another godly woman this week?
Application Exercises:
1. Ask your mom a story about her dreams when she was a young girl and what she learned that can serve as a warning to you or serve as wisdom.
2. Ask your mom to give you a chore to do that would serve her and your family
3. This week, start a journal!
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