I've had the awesome privilege of being one of the camp nurses here at Hume Lake, CA. Nestled deep in the heart of the Sequoia National Forest this ministry affects all it comes in contact with: camper, tourist, and employee (myself included).
Over the course of the past six weeks, the greatest analogy I have been continuously aware of is found in the small, yet mighty Sequoia seed.
The well-known proverb that "mighty oaks from little acorns grow" is more than accurate for this lifeform. Each seed is flat, about the size of a pinhead. Only with time and the right conditions will they grow to be Giants of the Forest attaining a staggering height of 300 feet. However, the odds of an individual seed germinating, surviving, and growing into a mature tree are less than one in a billion (not exactly in their favor). Making this little guy the definition of a miracle.
Sound familiar? It's almost exactly like the Parable of the Mustard Seed found in the Gospel.
"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a [Sequoia Seed] it is the smallest of all seeds but when it is grown it is LARGER than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches."- Matthew 13:31&32
On the first day of orientation my boss gave me a Sequoia cone and reminded me of this truth. As she pressed it into the palm of my hand and enfolded my fingers around it she uttered a blessing, which I now leave for you:
"God loves you.
God cares for you.
God has a plan for you."
May your seed of faith continue to grow, so that as you face the mountains of life nothing will be impossible through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. - Matthew 17:20
