Chinese Bamboo

I’d like to  introduce you to the miracle of Chinese Bamboo…

It all begins with a seed - and with the vision of someone willing to wait…  A Chinese farmer, usually struggling to survive and provide for his family, plants the seed and sets his hope and vision on all it will provide when it towers 90 feet above his head.   With a heart toward the future he digs hole after hole, plants the seeds, then begins their care.  Day after day he carries water to the spot he has marked.  And because it’s human nature to want to see results he carefully inspects “the spot” every day. 

Nothing.

Knowing he has to feed his family he plants other crops, carefully sewn around “the spots” that contain the real hope for his future.  He continues to water them every day, feeding them carefully, and watching…

Nothing.

The other crops sprout within weeks, providing nourishment for his family within months, but provide nothing for the future.  These crops will not make his dreams come true - they will simply provide for the now.  The Chinese Bamboo seeds contain all his hopes, his dreams…  A whole year goes by…

Nothing.

He continues to haul water.  He stares endlessly at “the spots” but sees nothing but barren ground.  His hopes, his dreams, seem so very far away.  There is no evidence of life.  Has the seed rotted?  Has it died before it ever had a chance to grow?  Another year goes by…

Nothing.

His neighbors - those who don’t know and believe in the miracle of the Chinese Bamboo - laugh at him.  They mock his vision for the future.  They look on with scorn as he hauls buckets of water to “the spots”.   He begins to question himself.  Will it ever grow?  Is he pouring water, and his life’s energy, into something that will reap no reward for him?  Another year goes by…

Nothing.

3 years of pouring water, energy and hope into the Chinese Bamboo.  Nothing to show for it.  Yet he’s heard of the miracle of the Chinese Bamboo.  He’s heard of the huge rewards that come to those who believe.  One day he stands over “the spots” and he cries his frustration and fears.  “The spots” reveal nothing, the barren ground seeming to mock him,  yet the wind whispers hope to him.  He sighs and hauls yet more buckets of water.  Another year goes by…

Nothing.

4 years….  4 years of hoping, wishing, diligently tending his dream.  Surely the miracle will happen now.  His neighbors have quit laughing.  They no longer even care - yet they talk quietly among themselves of the farmer who “isn’t quite right”.  At this point the farmer isn’t even sure… Yet he’s fallen into a habit so he continues to water “the spots”.  He continues to feed them.  It’s simply what he does now, with no knowledge of reward - just the simply, now unspoken hope, that life resides beneath the spots he so carefully tends.  Another year passes…

Nothing.

5 years.  The farmer is tired.  Tired of hauling buckets.  Tired of growing and tending so many other crops to feed his struggling family.  Tired of trying to keep his dream alive.  Tired of seeing no results day after day.  He stares hopelessly at “the spots”.  There can not possibly be life after so many years.  He must have watered them wrong.  He must not have fed them correctly.  If only he had done things differently, there would be growth.   Despair rocks his soul.  5 years he has poured into his dream - into his hope for a better future.  His dream mocks him.  The vision of a better life for his family melts away under harsh reality.  Tears fill his eyes as he grabs for the last hope residing in his soul and slowly lifts the bucket to pour water on to his dream.  After 5 years he realizes it would be folly to give up now… 

Then comes the morning when the whole village is jolted awake by the cries of joy from the farmer.  They watch startled from their windows as he runs down the dusty road calling for his family to come see.  As his family races back up the road after him, the rest of the village pours from their houses to see what has the “crazy farmer” so excited. 

They find the family clustered around “the spots”, talking excitedly.  From the edge of the road they can see green sprouts thrusting out from the barren ground.  They seem to be growing before their very eyes!  The farmer is dancing.  “The miracle has happened!” he cries.  “The miracle has come!”

“The spots” become the place for everyone in the village to come - watching in amazement as the bamboo grows, and grows, and grows.  5 feet.  10 feet.  20. 30. 40. 50. 60. 70. 80. 90…  In just 6 weeks the bamboo has grown 90 feet tall!  5 years of nothing and now this…  90 feet in 6 weeks!  It is truly a miracle! 

The farmer stands to the side.  He is aware all his dreams have come true.  The harvest of the bamboo will provide for all he dreamed of for his family.  He also realizes the lessons he has learned are far more valuable. 

He learned to plant a dream.�
 

He learned to do the daily things that would make it a reality.�
 

He learned to ignore those who said it couldn’t happen.�
 

He learned to push past his own fear and doubt and keep taking action.�
 

He learned to have faith when there was no reason to have faith.�
 

Now he smiles every time he walks through the village.  Everyone is hauling buckets of water to their own “spots”.  Gazing over at his towering 90 feet tall bamboo, they know what can happen.  Because of him.  Because of his willingness to blaze the trail and make his dream come true. 

What about you?  What are you willing to do to make your dreams come true?  How long are you willing to work?  How long are you willing to go to school?  How much faith and belief are you willing to have?  I hope your answer is one that will help you achieve all you dream of in life!

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of passage?

His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone.

He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN.

He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own. 

The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man!

Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.

We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, our Heavenly Father is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us. When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.

At three minutes and four seconds after 2 AM on the 6th of May this year, the time and date will be 02:03:04 05/06/07.

This will
never happen again.

Will You Settle?

Every day, all around me, I see people “settling”.  Settling for what?  They’re settling for less.  Settling for less than what will truly make them happy.  Settling for less than what they truly deserve.  Settling for less money because they don’t really believe they can make more - or they simply don’t want to do what it takes to change their situation.  They settle for doing a job they aren’t really happy in because they don’t really think they can change their situation.  They settle in less than fulfilling relationships because at least what they have offers them security, or maybe they just don’t think it’s possible to have all their heart yearns for.

People settle.

They settle because not settling is scary.  It takes them out of their comfort zone.  Not settling means they are going to take a risk and possibly lose what they have opted to settle for.  So they settle.  They decide that they really can’t have it all, so they might as well settle for what they can - and pretend they’re happy in the midst of it.  They’re not happy, but they prefer it to hanging out on a limb that might break.

I see it all around me.  People settling.  It makes me so sad.  And it makes me want to scream.  I want to grab these people and somehow convince them they are worth so much more than that.  They deserve to have it all.  They deserve to have what makes them happy.  They deserve to not struggle from day to day.  They deserve to do something that fills their heart and soul with fulfillment.  They deserve to have relationships that make their hearts explode with joy.  They deserve to not settle for anything less than what they want.

I can’t convince people.  I can share my thoughts, but each person has to convince themselves.  They have to change what they believe about themselves - and about the world they are creating for themselves.

But I can try and shake you up.  I can try and make you take a hard look at your life.  Are you settling?  Be honest.  If you are, then only you can change it.  Only you can decide to step out of your comfort zone.  Only you can opt for the courage that will make you live in the “fear zone”.  It’s in the fear zone that the greatest fulfillment and success is found.

It’s in not settling that you learn to truly live!