Pastor Leon Seaton

Plant Ps, Not Weeds

When I asked my wife about ideas for a Mother’s Day message, she said to tell them to plant Ps, not weeds. When she left for work the next morning I asked her what she was going to do that day. She responded, “I’m going to Lomega (School) to plant some Ps."

She was talking about her principles for success as a mother, but I believe that they apply to all areas of life.

The Ps she mentioned are:

1. Prepare
2. Prayer
3. Persevere
4. Provide
5. Patience
6. Permission

What are the Weeds?

1. Yelling and hollering at each other
2. Lousy family time
3. Substance abuse

David Wilkerson is the minister that established Teen Challenge. When David was a youngster they lived next door to a very dysfunctional family. During the summer the mother would get aggravated at her children. She often hollered at them, then stomped out the door saying, “If you kids don’t change I will leave this home and never come back.” Wilkerson figured that she did that so many times that the kids didn’t even look up when she did her little act. They had gotten used to it!

I’ve tried a lot of things in this life; succeeding at some projects and falling flat on others. But one thing I have not tried is motherhood. That has to be one tough job! Whether you are rich or poor have high goals or low goals, the following principles will work in any situation: motherhood, fatherhood, farming, teaching, preaching, administration and even begging!

I. PREPARE

“What comes out of you when you are squeezed is what is inside you.” Wayne Dyer 

Prepare your heart and prepare your home. If you are young get your house in order before you become a mother. Otherwise just change things now. We try to live so that children feel welcome in our home. The house is not to be “child proof,” but a place of nurturing.  Put the breakables out of reach, but keep them around to make your home attractive.

            Little kids like to go through cabinets. Lock the dangerous stuff up and give them a drawer or cabinet to call their own. Fix a “Grandma Box” of toys for guests or grandchildren. Let them enjoy the toys and make a mess if they want to.

            Mostly, prepare your heart. Being a good mom is more important than President Obama’s job, hands down. If the moms and dads of the world would do a better job, the President would not have to be the commander-in-chief of such a large military force.

II. PRAYER

“Work as if you were to live a hundred years, pray as if you were to die tomorrow.”  ~ Benjamin Franklin

If you want to be successful in life develop a life of prayer – preferably before becoming a mom. LONG before becoming a mom! Start the day you get saved! But be sure you are praying to God. Several years ago I was riding in a small plane with a friend when the carburetor froze up and the engine died. We were slowly descending over a body of water. The pilot kept saying to the plane, “Come on! Start! Come on, start!” I responded by saying, “Tell you what…you talk to the plane, I’ll talk to God.”

The plane started.

If our nation prayed with the intensity we encourage our sports teams this would be a different world.

Let your kids see you pray – let them hear you pray – and they will duplicate your life. If you really want to be effective, pray with and for your children so they can hear your words and feel your passion.

Instead of yelling at the children and your spouse, hold their hands and pray together.

My wife said that she probably spent more time praying that God would help her be a good mother than she spent praying for the children. Her plan worked.

III. PERSEVERE

            Our text makes two strong statements:

1.     We reap what we sow

2.     Do not be weary in well doing

“Keep on keeping on.”  My mother used to say, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

The old joke is that if you are self-employed you only have to work ½ a day – and “you can choose any 12 hours you want.”  Our moms are thinking, “If it were only 12 hours!”

“Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.”  ~Newt Gingrich

 IV. PROVIDE

            The most important things we can provide our family are not “things,” but values.                          

 1.  Spiritual teaching, example and strength

2.     Emotional support and strength. If you cannot stand the stresses of life without yelling or hitting the bottle, get help!

3.     Social relations. The African proverb “It takes a village to raise a child” has a lot of wisdom in it. We can accomplish very little by ourselves. Children learn by what they see. God gives us a discerning spirit so we can know how to pray for others, not so we can be good at gossiping!  

4.     Psychological strength. If you are a nervous wreck or a chronic worrier, please seek help. The daytime TV programs may glamorize being crazy, but it will drive your family nuts.

5.     Proper nutrition. Eat a balanced diet and live a balanced life.

6.     Love. The home is to be a “Haven of Rest” not a battlefield!

The current world financial crisis is disastrous, but I’m satisfied that it had to happen to help us reset our national values. For many people the money god died! However, some of the decisions being made in Washington DC makes it sound like money solves all things. It won’t. Benjamin Franklin said, “Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of filling a vacuum, it makes one.”

“Things” are important… but we have to keep balance.

 V. PATIENCE

            If you or I have prepared, bathed our lives in prayer, learned to persevere, have adequately provided the essentials of life, learned to love everyone, have eaten a balanced diet, become psychologically strong, built a strong social network, become emotionally strong and spiritually strong, being patient will be automatic!

            It’s like climbing a flight of stairs. Start at the bottom, go up one step at a time, stop to take a deep breath if you get short of breath, and soon you will be at the next landing…patience. It comes automatically!

            Skip a step and you might slip and hit your shin!

VI. PERMISSION

            Last week one of my coworkers asked a question… a very emotional question. She asked, “Is it normal to feel bad and cry all day when your son goes off to college?”

            Yep. As our children mature, we have to add this last step.  Allow them to respond to God’s call on their lives and be what they want to be.  This sounds a lot easier than it is.  We taught our children to be independent, but we did not dream that they would want to live so far away!  We have a child in San Antonio, TX, one in Spartanburg, SC, and one in Heidelberg, Germany. Fortunately one child chose to live in Edmond, OK.

            I encouraged all of them to be nurses or go into the ministry. One son said, “Dad, if I ever tell you that I want to be a nurse, talk me out it!”

            We have a friend that is having a very tough time. Everything has gone backwards for her. Fortunately, she has discovered the root of the problem.

            One of her daughters wound up in prison because of drug abuse. This mom had written her child off – cut off their relationship. Finally she contacted the daughter and asked for forgiveness. “Please forgive me for abandoning you.”

Almost immediately things started correcting themselves.  We have to forgive and restore, for God treats us just as we treat others.  Is this easy?  Not a chance!  Is it necessary?  Absolutely!

         As moms and dads, uncles and aunts, brothers and sisters, grandmas and grandpas, children and grandchildren, God is asking us to honor His word and love everyone – and forgive everyone just as God does each of us!

 And with that…

May 10, 2009