Knee High

Knee high by the fourth of July, that's farmer's rule for corn to yield a harvest before the season is over.  The corn I planted way back when is well beyond knee high, more like waist high and I'm excited about that.  Funny how watching a plant grow, started from seed, can bring so much pleasure.  A miracle really. 

So often when I plant a seed I want to wake up the next morning and see immediate results.  But every day is an investment in the goal.  Faithfulness is a humble virtue, so often overlooked, left behind in the limelight of qualities which seem more noble. 

I read a poem in high school which had great impact on me.  I've looked for it since and could not find it, even forgotten about it over the years, but occasionally the Spirit reminds me of its message.  You can imagine my thrill when I ran across that very poem in my recent reading of Charles Swindoll's book entitled Living Above The Level of Mediocrity. (Excellent read by the way) The poem is written by Ruth Harms Calkin and states:

"I Wonder"
You know, Lord, how I serve You
with great emotional fervor in the limelight.
You know how eagerly I speak for You at a Women's Club.
You know my genuine enthusiasm at a Bible study.
But how would I react, I wonder,
if You pointed to a basin of water
and asked me to wash the calloused feet
of a bent and wrinkled old woman
day after day, month after month,
in a room where nobody saw and nobody knew?

How eager we are to serve if its on stage, or in important places 'that matter' such as teaching adults or the excitement of VBS.  Where are we when it comes to week by week faithfulness in a classroom of children or day by day laundry or meals?   Those faithful are willing to "water and weed," on a regular basis, seeing no immediate fruit and no honor from others. 

Today there will be no fireworks in the back yard and no sparkles or gun powder from a city show.  Normally my family watches from the roof of our house, so we are indeed disappointed.  It is quiet, like any normal day, yet in our hearts the spirit of America remains alive and we remember the sacrifice, faithfulness, and determination by which those gone before have gained us our freedoms.  But even this moment there are heroes all around us, heroes none of us know about, but God sees.  And we experience the results of their faithfulness. 

I have to wonder, am I being faithful in the calling God has placed on my life, especially in the little things?  Because I want to reap a harvest someday, a harvest of character, of righteousness, and of impact on the lives of others toward the kingdom of God.  The investment I make today where no one sees or knows does matter.  Knee high by the fourth of July, yes, that's what I'm aiming for, so when these children (and myself) face summer's hottest trial, we may rise above it.