Rich Dixon continues his story:

Last time, the “stalker” asked, “What should I tell my boy?”

This guy didn’t chase us for hours thinking I could fix an un-fixable situation. He knew the difficult path he and his son faced together.

He knew their problem wouldn’t be solved. He appreciated knowing it was shared.

“Tell him he’s special,” I said. “Tell him he’s got gifts and talents and he can do whatever he wants with them.

“Tell him not to let what he can’t do keep him from doing what he can do.”

He repeated the last line. “Don’t let what he can’t do keep him from doing what he can do.” He smiled, and walked back to his truck.

During the next six weeks there were days I didn’t feel like creating a blog post. I wondered if anyone would notice if I skipped a few days. I thought about an eleven-year-old kid and his dad, and about other people I hadn’t met.

This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain. (Mark 4:26–28)

Mostly we never fully appreciate the effects of our actions. I wonder how many opportunities we miss by insisting on our notions of worthwhile outcomes, how often we quit when seeds don’t germinate immediately.

Persevering, doing what’s right, keeping commitments – those are hard when we can’t see immediate fruits from the effort and sacrifice.

Maybe that’s why Jesus used so many planting analogies.

God used Rich’s Ride to scatter seeds. Results sprouted and matured in places and ways we would never see. We needed to proceed with faith, hope, and love, trusting God to use our efforts even when we didn’t understand the specifics.

Knowing God’s at work, knowing He always works for good…that was enough.

To be continued…