Last updated on February 4th, 2025 at 08:45 pm
Every morning as I step onto our family homestead, watching the sun paint the sky in gentle strokes of pink and gold, I’m reminded of the profound truth found in 1 Corinthians 13. Here, among the growing things and gentle creatures, love isn’t just a feeling – it’s active, alive, and at work in every moment.
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
– 1 Corinthians 13:13
Love is Patient
In the garden, patience isn’t optional – it’s essential. We can’t rush a tomato to ripen or hurry along the first spring shoots. Just like those tender plants need time to grow, the people in our lives need patience too. When my honeybees (grandchildren) are learning to collect eggs from the henhouse or helping me in the kitchen, patience becomes love in action.
Love is Kind
Kindness flows naturally when we see ourselves as stewards rather than owners. Whether it’s sharing extra produce with neighbors, teaching a young one how to knead bread, or taking time to listen to an elder’s stories, kindness weaves the fabric of community. The land teaches us that everything is connected – the bees to the blossoms, the soil to the seed, and us to one another.
Love Does Not Envy
There’s no room for envy when you’re focused on tending what God has given you. Every homestead, every garden, every family has its own unique beauty and purpose. The oak doesn’t envy the apple tree its fruit, nor does the honeybee envy the butterfly its colors. Each has its place in God’s garden.
Love Does Not Boast
Nature has a way of humbling us. No matter how many years I’ve worked this land, there’s always more to learn. True wisdom comes not from showing what we know, but from sharing what we’ve learned with a grateful heart. When we boast, we close ourselves off from the lessons waiting in every failure and success.
Love Always Protects, Always Trusts, Always Hopes, Always Perseveres
Like the ancient oaks that have weathered countless storms on this homestead, love stands firm. It protects like a mother hen gathering her chicks, trusts like a seed planted in dark soil, hopes like the first green shoot breaking through, and perseveres like roots growing deep and strong.
The Greatest of These
Faith gives us the courage to plant, hope shows us the promise in every seed, but love – love is what makes it all matter. It’s in the daily acts of caring for land and livestock, in teaching the next generation, in preserving traditions and creating new ones. Love transforms simple moments into sacred ones.
When evening settles over the homestead and the day’s work is done, I often sit on the porch and reflect. The crickets sing their evening hymns, and the soft bleating of goats carries across the pasture. In these quiet moments, I’m reminded that of all the lessons this land has taught me, the greatest of these is love.
May this reflection encourage you to see love at work in your own daily moments, whether you’re tending a vast garden or a single windowsill plant, cooking for many or just for one, living on a homestead or in the heart of the city. After all, love grows wherever it’s planted and tended with care.
Journal Prompt: Seeds of Legacy
Take a quiet moment today, maybe with your morning coffee or as the evening settles in, and reflect on the "seeds" your parents or grandparents planted in your life. What traditions, skills, or values did they cultivate that still bear fruit today? Like my daddy clearing this land years ago or my momma teaching me her way around a kitchen, each generation plants something for the next.
What seeds of wisdom are you now planting for your own honeybees children or grandchildren to harvest one day? Write about one specific tradition or skill you hope will take root and grow in their lives.
Feel free to explore this through:
A cherished family recipe
A gardening technique passed down
A way of prayer or devotion
A simple daily habit that carries meaning
A special spot on your land or in your home
Remember, just like in the garden, some of our most precious legacies grow from the smallest seeds planted with love.
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