| I had tried to talk my customer out of buying such a | | | | rarely ever get noticed. We drop off our children and |
| large ficus benjamina, explaining a smaller tree would | | | | then head towards the pastor who will train us out |
| acclimate better to her home environment. But she | | | | of The Word. We certainly wouldn't want the job of |
| couldn't wait for the tree to grow, so now, three | | | | dealing with all those noisy children! |
| months later, she was lamenting a bare trunk and | | | | Do we ever think about what our children, still with |
| stems sitting in her dark den. A younger tree would | | | | unformed brains, are being taught? There is no one in |
| not have rebelled so violently and would have | | | | the church who has a more thankless job than the |
| retained most of its leaves. | | | | teacher of toddlers and preschoolers. If the custodian |
| Human beings are a lot like plants: the younger we | | | | doesn't do his job, we notice! But it's not the same |
| start teaching them about Jesus and His love, the | | | | with these faithful people who are planting seeds in |
| greater the opportunity for that child to know | | | | our children's minds and hearts. |
| Jesus--not only as Savior, but also as Lord. | | | | Far too often we overlook those faithful nursery |
| My customer's Weeping Fig Tree rebelled by | | | | workers and preschool teachers in our churches. I'm |
| shedding all its leaves, leaving only the bare trunk and | | | | ashamed of the "babysitter" mentality we seem to |
| branches for "beauty." Had she purchased the | | | | project upon them. When we get to Heaven, we |
| younger tree and taken time to acclimate it to | | | | may well find out they were the most effective |
| darker surroundings, she would have a beautiful tree | | | | seed planters of all! |
| in her den. Now she was paying for her impatient | | | | I thank God for all those unsung heroes who, Sunday |
| I-want-it-now decision. | | | | after Sunday, without any bravado or recognition, |
| To paraphrase Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a ficus when | | | | plant seeds in the precious soil of our children's hearts |
| it is young and when as it ages, it will not rebel by | | | | and minds. Maybe these kids will have a fighting |
| shedding its leaves." | | | | chance at productive lives as they become adults. |
| In our churches we have loyal child trainers who | | | | |