Faith, Seeds, and Jason’s Mother

“Mom, are you sure these seeds are going to grow?” Jason asked his mother, who was kneading a big lump of whole wheat bread dough. She nodded her head.

He was still looking into a little pot where he had planted some green bean seeds, but all he could see was dirt. He wanted to put his finger in the dirt so he could feel or see if the seeds were sprouting, but he knew he shouldn’t do that. His mother had told him that seeds were damaged easily and needed tender care to grow.

“But are you really sure they’ll grow?” he asked again.

Mom stopped kneading and thought for a minute. “Jason, do you remember when we talked about faith during family home evening? We decided that one kind of faith is knowing something is there even though we can’t see it. Well, knowing that those seeds are sprouting is something like that. We can’t see them growing but we know that they are slowly getting bigger and bigger. And if we wait long enough, then we’ll see long, skinny green plants. And eventually we’ll be able to have green beans for dinner.”

“Do you think I’ll ever have any faith?”

“Of course. When you’re in the house and you decide to go outside, you know the sun will be up in the sky when you get there, don’t you?”

“Sure. Even if it’s raining, the sun is just hidden behind some clouds.”

“And you know your daddy loves you, even when he’s gone to work?”

“That’s right!”

“And when he comes home, you know he’ll be so happy to see you, that if you run up to him, he’ll give you a big hug?”

“He always does that,” said Jason, who was still trying to figure out what his mother meant.

“Well, all those things show that you have faith.”

Jason wanted to talk some more about faith, but the telephone rang and his friend, Dustin, invited him to come over to play.

Dustin had a new set of big yellow trucks. Since one of them could hold a whole bucket of sand, Jason and Dustin decided to build a big castle in Dustin’s sandbox. They wanted their castle to have lots of towers and windows and high walls.

The boys moved a big mound of sand to the middle of the sandbox. Then they poured a little water from the hose on it and dug their hands in. They wiggled their fingers. The warm sand mixed with the cool water felt good. Then they began packing sand into Dustin’s bucket, and turning it upside down to make six tall towers. They built a long drawbridge and put towers at each end.

When they were finished, they sat on the edge of the sandbox and smiled at each other.

“Pretty good, don’t you think?” asked Dustin.

“It’s the biggest one we’ve ever made,” answered Jason. “I want to see what it looks like from the top.”

He stepped up and stood on the edge of the sandbox. It wasn’t a high edge, but it was narrow. He started to sway, and reached for something to steady himself. He grabbed and grabbed again and then fell. His chin hit the sharp edge of one of the truck beds, and he felt something sting.

“Your chin’s bleeding!” Dustin cried, and he ran into his house.

Jason sat very still. It really hurt! After a minute, he saw Dustin and his mother come running from the house.

“Oh, Jason!” cried Dustin’s mother. “Let me help you.” She reached down and took him by the hand to help him stand up. “Let’s go in and wash that off. Does it hurt very much?”

Jason nodded his head. He didn’t want to talk, because he thought he might cry. He walked into the house with Dustin and his mother. Dustin’s mother wet a washcloth with cold water, and pressed it gently against Jason’s chin to help reduce the sting.

After she held the cloth there for about a minute, she took it away and looked at the chin again. “That looks a little better. Shall I call your mom and have her come and get you?”

Jason nodded again. He still didn’t know if he could talk without crying. He heard Dustin’s mother tell his mother on the phone to come over. He felt good when he thought about her coming to get him. He knew she would come as fast as she could.

Then Jason remembered what she had said to him that morning—“Faith is knowing something is there, even though you can’t see it.” He knew his mother would come and get him, even though he couldn’t see her leave the house. Jason knew she would take care of his chin so it would get better. Thinking about those things, Jason realized that he did have faith and that he felt loved and safe—so safe that he fell fast asleep on Dustin’s bed.