Heirloom Seeds

Have you ever tasted heirloom tomatoes? Their shapes aren’t uniform, nor are their colors.  But oh, the flavors!

Heirloom vegetables are grown from seeds that have been passed down through the generations, typically at least 50 years. And more and more people are awakening to the taste, flavor and nutritious value of heirloom produce.
 
Not all heirloom seeds produce vegetables. Some seeds, planted in the human heart, produce ideas or values.  That’s certainly happened in my life and likely, in yours.
 
My friend, Larry Elliott, was promoted to Heaven nineteen years ago this week. And this June will mark the 20th anniversary of Larry planting the seed for Leave Nothing Unsaid.
 
Amazingly, he planted that seed unintentionally. It was done by the way Larry lived his life. He considered relationships, first with God, then with people, to be the most important priorities of life.
 
And because he loved his family so much, he wanted to write letters to his children in case he didn’t survive pending surgery for a brain tumor. Intentional living. Intentional loving. The wake of his life influenced all who knew him, and planted a seed in my heart.
 
It’s a seed that has been germinating and growing for the last 20 years, and his influence has been far reaching. My prayer is that Larry’s legacy through Leave Nothing Unsaid will continue to multiply, and that those who have received loving, affirming letters will be inspired to write letters themselves.
 
But more than letters, my hope and prayer is that Larry’s central focus on the importance of relationships -with God and with others- will be the seed that I, too, plant with my life.
 
How about you? What seeds do you want to plant with your life?

How do you want to be remembered? 

And what do you see springing up around you? Seeds or weeds?

It’s never too late to reorder our priorities and to begin focusing on planting heirloom seeds with our lives.