{"id":1398,"date":"2023-05-09T04:57:26","date_gmt":"2023-05-09T04:57:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/?p=1398"},"modified":"2023-05-09T06:32:06","modified_gmt":"2023-05-09T06:32:06","slug":"the-power-of-a-single-seed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/?p=1398","title":{"rendered":"The Power of a Seed!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

THE BACKSTORY\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

April is my birthday month, and this birthday was a BIG ONE. I turned thirty-five this year . . . well . . . to be fair, thirty-five, Two. Times. Over!\u00a0 YIKES!\u00a0 The mere thought of it nearly sent me into a tailspin. But I\u2019ve never been one to give up without a fight, so I determined that I would NOT let these daunting digits (seven and zero) get the better of me. My plan was to walk the number of my years in miles the week before my 70th<\/sup> birthday . . . you know . . . just to show those dastardly digits who\u2019s boss. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, I showed \u2019em who\u2019s boss, alright!\u00a0 I blew the top off my ambitious goal by walking a whopping 112 miles that week!\u00a0 In fact, during the month of April, I walked OVER 500,000 meters!\u00a0 It was as if I had said, \u201cTAKE THAT, you lying birth certificate and driver\u2019s license!\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps it was just an honest mistake . . . an age-doubling computer virus or some technological hiccup.\u00a0 But what if it was the mischievous machination of a disgruntled government employee. \u00a0Hmm . . . Foul-up or foul play? No matter which one. I killed it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To this point, all we have here is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek, human-interest story offering little more value than extolling the personal<\/u><\/em> health benefits of walking and the satisfaction that comes from achieving a robust goal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Therapy!! Not Just a “Walk in The Park”!<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But that is merely the backstory.\u00a0 You see, there is more to this story than the feat of my feet. \u00a0Much more! \u00a0And I\u2019m not talking simply about the personal<\/u><\/em> spiritual benefits of worship, prayer and meditation that so easily can accompany the activity of walking.\u00a0 I\u2019m talking about a shining moment for sowing spiritual \u201cseed.\u201d Here\u2019s how it happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE STORY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the 27th<\/sup> day of my age-defying walking spree, and I was ambulating briskly with eyes focused on what typically is the midpoint of my walk (the Pennsylvania State Capitol building), when I noticed a group of teens & preteens pointing at me and yelling something that sounded like three words. \u00a0Unfortunately, the sounds of cars passing on the street made the words annoyingly unintelligible, so I kept asking them to repeat what they were saying as I kept drawing nearer to them.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
En Route To the Pennsylvania State Capitol!<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When I was finally face-to-face with this line-up of six sharp-looking kids, I asked what they were saying. They said, \u201cAn-drew Tate!\u201d  \u201cAre you Andrew Tate?\u201d  I said, \u201cNo.\u201d They said, \u201cAre you famous?\u201d I said \u201cNo.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I should note two things here: first, that I had no clue who Andrew Tate was and second, that for reasons of comfort and the sun\u2019s tanning rays, I had been carrying my shirt, not wearing it. As it turns out, Andrew Tate is a British-American social media personality who had achieved a good amount of fame as a champion kickboxer.\u00a0 As for me, my intense exercise regimen and carb-busting diet had me in the best shape of my life\u2014seriously.\u00a0 I could see that God\u2019s precious young people were eyeing me over in disbelief (some truly believed I was Andrew Tate), so I felt prompted to ask them, \u201cHow old do you think I am?\u201d One said, \u201c50.\u201d Another, \u201c30.\u201d\u00a0 I said, \u201cI\u2019ll be 70 this Sunday. Seven-Zero!\u201d Now they were REALLY in disbelief.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suddenly I realized that I had a congregation of six right there on the street, all lined up as if they were front-row parishioners. Amid their syncopated shouts of \u201cNo Way!\u201d I gazed intently at each one of them and said, \u201cNever smoked! \u00a0Never been drunk! \u00a0Never did drugs! Self-discipline!\u00a0 And [pointing above] God\u2019s grace!\u201d Now, because they had asked me if I had heard of Andrew Tate, I figured a question from me was fair game, especially now that I had their careful attention and evident admiration. The soil had been furrowed for the seed. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
These Really Cool Kids Were My Front-Row<\/strong> Parishioners!<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you know me personally or follow me on Facebook, you already know the question I posed.  That\u2019s right!  \u201cHave you all heard of THE CHOSEN?\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d they all responded. So I quickly gave them my elevator speech about The Chosen and encouraged them to watch it with their parents.  After complimenting them on what an impressive group they were and promising to google Andrew Tate, I continued on my way toward the Capitol.  As I was leaving them, I heard them chanting their three-syllable \u201cAn-drew Tate\u201d [to help me remember]. I turned to face them and responded, with a tri-syllabic \u201cWatch The Chosen!\u201d  As I turned to continue walking, our antiphonal chanting continued another three or four measures until fadeout.  I couldn\u2019t help thinking . . . the soil has been prepared. The seed has been planted. Now the \u201cwatering\u201d (prayer) and the \u201csunlight\u201d (the Holy Spirit\u2019s wooing) begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that you know THE REAL STORY, will you join me by offering a prayer for these kids, and again, should the Holy Spirit later bring this story to your remembrance?\u00a0 I believe eternity will reveal what God accomplishes in the lives of the six youngsters that I met by God\u2019s design on the 27th<\/sup> day of my walking spree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE BACKSTORY\u00a0 April is my birthday month, and this birthday was a BIG ONE. I turned thirty-five this year . . . well . . . to be fair, thirty-five, Two. Times. Over!\u00a0 YIKES!\u00a0 The mere thought of it nearly sent me into a tailspin. But I\u2019ve never been one to give up without a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-missions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1398"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1432,"href":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1398\/revisions\/1432"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robstarner.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}