...and a good man will be filled

with the fruit of his ways.

                     Proverbs 14. 14

(What do we choose

     to plant and to nurture

in the soil that has been

                given us?

What do we seek to leave

  not just in this day,

  nor in these circumstances,

       but even beyond our lifetimes?

The sowing of a forest starts

        with a handful of seeds

     --never insignificant--

and produce an endless grove of fruit

for the perennial blessing and wellbeing

   of those who come behind us.

It is not our accomplishments

             or our stuff that matters

but a transformed heart

and the fruit God has borne

through us

            that will last forever.

Not our goodness

                  but His.)

O LORD,

Help us to listen to Your voice,

to respond to Your nudges,

to walk with you

   through barren fields

and see something different,

      lasting,

      and a changed landscape.

May Your faithfulness to us

   and our faithfulness to You

bear abundant fruitfulness

          not just what remains

   but cannot be contained,

even that which we

        cannot yet see

        or realize.

We stand in amazement

   of Your hand in our lives

and grateful to You

  even in what we cannot understand.