“Kernels are seeds we plant as we journey through life, from season to season.”






           We leave kernels behind like tracks in the sand that show our past seasons; but, like sand near the ocean, the seasons of wind and water erase them.  They become bittersweet memories or just bitter memories, leaving scars.  They come in the form of words, actions, behaviors, thoughts, emotions, intentions and often, ‘un-intentions’.





            Each Wednesday, here on my blog, Sparklers: Lights of Grace, you will rise and shine, greeted by my ‘something to think about’ Wednesday blog called, Sparklers Garden:  Kernels of….  My greatest hope is that by planting our kernels we will reset our view about whatever season we are traveling in.  





A Kernel of Faith 





A kernel of faith is all you need to get through the ups and downs of life’s many seasons.  Right?





 Some seasons are crystal clear.  The sky is blue, the varying hues of nature crisp and the heart is bursting with the joy of it all – we see it.  For this, we give thanks with all our heart and soul.





 But, sometimes it can be so bright that all you see is what’s right in front of you.  This makes it hard to know where the blessings came from, therefore making it easy to feel invincible.  





Meanwhile other seasons can be a mist of pain and darkness where there is no up, no down, and no side to side.





Either of these causes life to lose its luster.  Either also makes the world seem flat.  Our steps try to go backward to a bright and easy season in our life.  But, those footprints are gone and we eventually collide with a big rubber wall that bounces us right back to the present.





 Our season may be murky.  We run to the right — smack into a hard wall.  We try it again with a slightly different direction, ziz-zagging our way to the left, then to the right as if we can fool life into a different season. 





There’s no fooling the seasons of life, so again we smack into a wall, this time staggering upright, bruises and all.  The only direction left is forward, but the swirling mist hides what waits for us there.  Scary, huh?





Perhaps, much like the long ago theory that the earth is flat, our life too has become flat.  If we go forward, we might just step off the edge.  Then what?  Well, when a season in life changes, there’s no way to go back.  It’s also impossible to remain still.   Stagnation becomes a living death.  





 Moving into the next season is the only option.  But that’s scary.  It’s going to take courage and we can’t find it in the fog that surrounds us.   Where can this much courage be found?  





  Listen.  





  Listen and hear those words in your head – the two words that provide direction.  Those words are, “you know”.  





 You know to raise your hands to heart level – yes both at the same time.  In one you speak your fear; in the other you speak your faith; both of the unknown facing you.  Then you put them together, clasped in prayer, releasing fears by giving them to God – and don’t even think about taking them back (remember that rubber wall?).





This is when the grace of courage is given.  Works every time –  in His timing.





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  It’s hard to to see evidence of faith in times like these when the entire world seems flat.  Let’s grow this Sparkler Garden!  





  Please, share your own Kernel of… in the comments section in hopes that your kernel will touch at least one person reading it, and that one person is changed and in the doing, will provide a kernel that will grow in someone else.  















Luke 8:11





“Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.”










“You know.“