The Carrot Seed

This book has been one of my favorites for as long as I can remember.  My mom read it to me.  I read it to me. And now I read it to my preschool class.  It is one of my all time favorite children's books.  And I am going to tell you why.

First of all, I have learned through the help of  Mr.Wikipedia that this book was written in 1945 by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by her husband Crockett Johnson (author of Harold and the Purple Crayon.)  It boast of a mere 101 words and has drawing so simplistic that even I was able to trace onto overhead to make an overhead story out of it.  It is 85 years old and has remained in continuous publication.  And like I said, it's my favorite.  Why you ask? 

This book, though at first glance  a simple story about a boy planting a carrot seed, is really a book about so much more.  It is about hope, faith, perseverance and reward.  To sum it up, a little boy plants a seed and cares for it daily by watering and pulling weeds.  Time passes and it appears nothing is happening.  The people around him prepare him for failure by telling him it won't grow.  The boy doesn't listen and keeps watering and pulling weeds.  And one day out pops a carrot, a VERY big carrot!

Every spring at preschool I pull out this book, along with my overhead drawings and my torn paper carrot art project to share with my kids.  And every year God uses it to encourage me.  Crazy huh, how  God would use a 101 word children's book about a carrot seed to speak encouragement.  As I share this story with my three and four year old friends, I often have to fight back the emotions.

You see, carrot seeds are tiny.  Some years we plant them in conjunction with this story.  They really don't look like they will amount to anything.  Add to that, the fact that they can take up to three weeks to germinate, planting and caring for carrot seeds can appear like a waste of time and a disappointment in the making.  And yet when tended to and patiently wait for, a carrot can form from that tiny seed in its perfect timing.

Life is full of carrot seeds.  Those things which we start and tend to, believing God will bring to fruitfulness.  And it requires nurturing from watering and removing weeds during a time where it looks like NOTHING is happening. And whether it be actual people, ones fears or the words of the enemy, there is usually a whispering in one's ears that it is a waste of time that will result in disappointment.  Did I mention that there is a lot of waiting without activity.  It requires hope and faith in the creator of the seed along with perseverance to continue tending even when nothing appears to be happening. And yet in the end of the story, it happens.  Fruitfulness revealed, bigger than one would ever imagine.

Here's to watering, pulling weeds, and not letting the voices convince you to stop as you tend to your carrot seeds.