Lately it seems almost everyone I’ve talked to has referenced cleaning out, decluttering, organizing, or down-sizing. I’m in the same mode. I wonder if it’s the season of the year or my season of life. In going through a closet I found a cross-stitched a sampler that said,
“All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today.”
I couldn’t articulate all the meaning behind the statement, but it resonated with something deep inside my spirit.
I’m thinking about the seeds that reside in me now—my lessons learned from several decades of life. The treasure of knowledge and understanding I need to pass on to the next generation. I’m also thinking of letting things go: sets of dishes, stacks of sheet music, pictures, memorabilia… stuff to pass on or give away to make room for new memories.
Recently two grandchildren were here and they enjoyed exploring the woods surrounding our house. They came back with all sorts collectibles—bottles, shed antlers,a turtle shell, interesting rocks, arrow heads, unusual pine cones. They suggested I clean out a downstairs closet and make a “museum” for the treasures the cousins find on the farm. “You know,” they said, “like a memory closet.”
Only problem was, it already is a memory closet. It’s stuffed full of memories from my own growing up days. There are things in there that belonged to my mother and grandmother. Nothing really valuable, just… memories. And what will I ever do with those things? The dishes my mother and mother-in-law used when they had company are packed in plastic tubs. I never use them; they aren’t dishwasher safe. And the boxes and boxes of sheet music my mother collected over her 60-plus years of piano teaching are too challenging for me to attempt to play, so why keep them? I must admit, however, I might have trouble throwing away the stored pictures and homemade cards, etc. that our boys made in elementary school. And the box of cheap trophies they earned back in the day before “everybody got a trophy”—I can’t let them go!
All this to say, I’m challenged right now to consider what’s important to pass off and what’s important to pass on. I feel that Pops and I are holding a huge basket of seeds that either need to be planted or thrown away.
There are the books I’ve collected over the years, good ones containing advice for living. I know these would benefit other families and they aren’t helping anyone by sitting on my bookshelf in a closet. My own book: I want to scatter the seeds of wisdom I’ve gained from experience, trial and error, and the Lord’s leading as I reared our sons.
When I see our family, I realize I’m seeing the flowers that have resulted form seeds sewn years ago. For fifty years, we’ve planted, cultivated, dug up weeds in our family garden…and we’re still working on it.
I thought about our grandchildren. What seeds do I have left to plant in them?
Three little girls are begging me to teach them to play the piano. I’m tempted to tell them no because it’s trouble. I don’t know how to convey the little I know the way my mother did to me. But then one of them said, “Lollie, I want to play the piano, but I really just enjoy being with you by myself.” So there.
The girls (especially) share my love of writing, and two have asked me to respond back in their personal journals to questions they have for me to answer. One of my precocious granddaughters said with perfect confidence that we will publish our book. She calls it Stories from Grandma’s House. Who knows…maybe we will.
As Pops and I weigh the efforts between teaching a boy to fish, a little girl to play piano or make a piecrust, read aloud to a squirmy toddler, or sacrifice a good night’s rest for a sleepover in our bedroom, I’m thinking about the seeds. We can keep all our memories and our knowledge in our basket and be comfortable and retired, or we can make the effort to spread, share, and plant the seeds we have for them to come up as flowers in future years.