Are you a "Seed Planter" or a "Harvester"?

I was thinking this morning about my grandsons (I have three, ages one, three and almost

six) and remembered when the oldest asked Jesus into his heart; clearly one of the happiest days of my life! It was June 11, 2012 . . . I received a phone call I’ll never forget which let me know about this amazing thing which happened. My three year old grandson, Josiah got on the phone and said, “I’m part of God’s family now, grandma!” I can assure you it was the best news I could ever receive! The angels in Heaven were certainly celebrating, but I can guarantee you they could not have possibly celebrated more than this grandma! :^)

Well, all this got me to thinking . . . what could possibly be a more wonderful thing than for a parent to lead their child to Jesus? I can’t think of anything more wonderful! My daughter-in-law was talking with Josiah and he said he wanted to be part of God’s family, so she had the great privilege and joy of leading her sweet son to Jesus!

What do you do to equip parents so they know how to have these conversations? How do you help parents become familiar with God’s Word so they are able to lead their children to Jesus? Do you approach your children’s ministry with the view of “planting seeds” or of being the “harvester”? If you are “planting seeds”, then you are teaching children about Who Jesus is and what He did for them, but when they are ready to make a decision, you bring the parents in and allow them the great joy of leading their child to Jesus! Or, if a child is asking questions, you tell his/her parent, so they are able to sit down and have the most important conversation ever with their child and then be there to lead them to Jesus!

If you are approaching ministry as a “harvester”, you are the one who leads the child to Jesus. Don’t get me wrong, there are certainly times when it is not possible to pull the parents in, or maybe the parents are not believers yet, in which cases you most certainly should go ahead and lead the child to Jesus. But, if the parents are believers and if they are available, then by all means allow them the joy of leading their child to Jesus!

And then . . . don’t forget to celebrate, after all, the angels in Heaven are certainly celebrating when a child becomes “part of God’s family!”

(And, if you are looking for resources you can point parents to - consider sharing my other blog with them - grandma's cookie jar. I write about the joy of being a grandma, but my posts are not just for grandmas! They are for grandpas, moms and dads, too! You'll find it at; grandmascookiejar.net)