Planting Out

I like plants.

If you've spent anytime in this blog, you've probably figured that out already.

When it comes to growing plants, sometimes I appear to have a green thumb and at other times that thumb seems to have been amputated. But I do enjoy taking some seeds, tenderly caring for them in their infancy, then growing it out to a container of some kind and then eventually planting it out.

Lignum Vitae plants just emerging

An avocado plant getting almost too big for its pot

Plants are kind of like people.  It seems they need a lot of care when they are really young.  The moisture has to be just right.  An single small insect can take them out in a single blow. But as they mature they can withstand a bit more stress and eventually they can get by with no help from us.

One thing I have seen is that if you keep a plant in a pot or bag too long, you can do permanent damage to the plant. It may not die, and when you plant it out it will continue to grow.  But often such plants never get as big as they otherwise could.  They become stunted.

Perhaps in this way, people are a bit like plants. As kids grow up, they eventually get to where they can make it on there own.  But sometimes the parent doesn't want to plant out the child .  When this happens, the child may be almost like the plant that is permanently stunted.

Letting go can be hard. And the best time and technique varies from person to person. A parent needs a lot of wisdom in this.

This concept also seems to apply to churches as well. Someone or a group of people make an effort  to plant a church.  They coddle it. They nurture it.  They help it get through all of the dangers of the seedling stage. They gradually put it in bigger and bigger pots.  But eventually it comes time to take the plant out of the pot so it can flourish in the native soil.  But this releasing process can be hard.  We like having the pot in our front yard where we can see it from our window.  We enjoy the activity of watering and fertilizing the pot.  But if we keep the plant in the pot too long, there is the danger that it will never thrive.

It's been wonderful to watch some of our churches in Thailand grow up. But the "letting go" part is tricky.  When is the best time?  How do we do it and do it well?  And like raising children to adulthood, there can be pain and hurt feelings along the way.  But with grace, wisdom, and help from God, it can be done.  And it is wonderful to see the churches say, "Yes! We can do this!"

Point your kids in the right direction—
when they're old they won't be lost. (Proverbs 22:6 MSG)