As moms we tend to spend our down time contemplating what we can do to better prepare our children for what’s ahead. Here are five ways to plant fruitful seeds in your child’s heart for the upcoming year.
Planting seeds in the wintertime (or wintertime sowing) is an age old technique of planting certain seeds while it is still winter.
Then when spring comes… seeds are already in the ground and get a head start on growing!
Doesn’t this sound a bit like parenting?
As proactive parents, we aim to equip and prepare our children for all the necessary life situations that they will face ahead. Life skills need to be learned while they are under our roof and in our loving care.
Seeds that do well with wintertime sowing are ones that spring up hardy plants.
In the same way, when we plant fruitful seeds into our children’s heart… we are assisting in the character, strength, and aptitude of their future selfs.
To demonstrate this principle, I have chosen the following hardy plants:
Check off critical household, social, and hygiene skills for your child so they’re prepared (not petrified) of growing up!
Butterfly Weed
Butterfly weeds spring up bright orange blossoms. Their sweet nectar attracts butterflies. Specifically, the bright and beautiful monarch Butterly. Oh, how we love seeing these creatures. They make us stop and stare at the complexity and intricacy of God’s creation.
I chose this plant as the first “seed to plant in wintertime” or fruitful seed to plant in your child’s heart because of the way it attracts beauty.
Proverbs 18:24 tells us that- Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
The first fruitful seed for us to plant in our child’s heart is the seed of positive speaking. We want to boost them (uplift them) as we begin a new year.
Verbally speaking a blessing over their lives will plant seeds as sweet as nectar in their hearts.
These seeds of encouragement and positivity will aid in boosting their self-confidence. Likewise, when they produce the fruit of positive words, good things will flock to them. Good thing will be attracted to them like monarchs to the butterfly weed.
Petunias
Petunias are one of the most popular flowers. This is because of their vibrant purple petals that can last all the way from spring to frost.
In short… petunias are in it for the long haul!
I chose this plant as the second “seed to plant in wintertime” or fruitful seed to plant in your child’s heart because of the way it endures.
Colossians 3:23 instructs us to. “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.”
The second fruitful seed for us to plant in our child’s heart is the seed of endurance (hard work). For the upcoming year, it’s important that we teach our children the values of sticking with a hard task, problem solving, and endurance.
These life skills will serve them well in the upcoming year… as well as the rest of their lives!
Help prepare your kids for life, one skill at a time. Simple, easy skills every month!
Learn MoreBeets
Some people call beets a superfood. This is because it’s believed that they can aid in nutrition absorption. Obviously, being able to absorb nutrition from foods is an essential part of life.
I chose this plant as the third “seed to plant in wintertime” or fruitful seed to plant in your child’s heart because of how it can help us absorb the things we need.
James 1:19 says – “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”
Wow, what an amazing life skill to plant into our child’s heart. The ability to listen intently, to take in instruction, to listen before reacting are invaluable skills.
When we teach our children how to listen (absorb) instruction into their lives, we are setting them up for success in upcoming year.
Carrots
Have you ever heard the old timer saying, “you’ll have good eyesight if you eat your carrots?” I remember hearing my mom say this as a child.
I chose this plant as the forth “seed to plant in wintertime” or fruitful seed to plant in your child’s heart because of how it relates to vision.
Psalm 119:18 is a prayer that says. “Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.”
It’s a wonderful gift to plant the seed of anticipation, longing for God’s will, and seeking to see the things of God into the heart of a child. I believe God can do mighty things with that!
When we help our children to view people through the eyes of compassion, they learn how to treat others.
Likewise, when we teach out children to view situations through grace, they will learn how to properly navigate difficult situations.
Spinach
Spinach is full of vitamins, folate acid, Iron, and calcium. This would cause some say that eating spinach is great for your heart and blood.
I chose this plant as the fifth “seed to plant in wintertime” or fruitful seed to plant in your child’s heart because of how it relates to the heart.
We live in a generation that says “follow your heart.” And although I believe that listening to what you need individually is important, teaching our children to blindly follow their heart is not biblical.
Proverbs 4:23 commands us to “above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
Psalms 51:10 is a prayer that says “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
It’s important for us to plant seeds into our children’s heart that fortify, enrich, and maintain a healthy heart- similarly to the way that spinach can be nutritious.
So, teaching our children that what they allow to enter their heart should be pure, genuine, and in reverence to God’s word is a beautiful thing in their life.
Matthew 5:8 says it this way – Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Pull out these fun connecting questions to share some laughs with your precious ones!
Use them at:
- meal times
- car rides
- as a “calm down” trick
- for dinner time conversation
- or any time the day is getting chaotic or
- you need a reset to connect.
For the upcoming year, let’s prepare our kids by planting the seed of a pure heart. This seed, when it produces, will be a beautiful leaf equip to handle whatever comes their way.
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