Last Tuesday I received phone call from a mother of one of Collin’s teammates on the football team.  I am team mom for the 7th grade, of course.  I do everything else, so why not!  She asked if I could take her children to the game and I replied that since I was at work downtown, she would be best served by contacting one of the coaches.  I explained that Collin was catching a ride with someone because of my work schedule.  I explained that I would be travelling to Collierville before heading to Arlington and did not know if I would get the players to the field on time.

As I was in my car headed to Collierville, my phone rang again.  At first, I didn’t answer it.  You know, the dangers of talking on your cell phone and driving on the expressway.  A minute later the call came again and I can see it on my dashboard.  I answered the phone and it was the mother of the two boys.  She did not tell me whether or not she had talked with the coach, but asked if we could make arrangements and I told her I would be happy to pick up the boys and get them to Arlington with me.

What do you talk about when you have two boys in the back seat that you do not know? Sports! Of course!  Having enough knowledge of every sport to be dangerous, I embarked on many different discussions such as, who is your favorite college football team, who is your favorite player, who is your favorite NFL team, who is your favorite quarterback, who is your favorite NBA team, and on and on.  As we would get to a team, I mentioned Tim Tebow called Trey and prayed with him.  I told these two boys how much it meant to Trey that Tim took 20 minutes out of his day to pray with him.  Then we talked about DeAngelo Williams and how Trey went skeet shooting with him.  I had to explain about skeet shooting first.  They asked if I had a picture.  So this mom who would not answer the phone while driving was fumbling through her pics on her phone to show the boys the pics of Trey and DeAngelo horsing around. 

We talked about the footballs that Trey had from Peyton and Eli Manning and others.  And the question finally came, how did your son know all these people?  And I said, in a very elemental voice, “My son, Trey, had cancer.  He knew that he was not going to get better.  Instead of being unhappy, he decided to have joy and people wanted to know why and they wanted to talk to him.  Some wanted to help make him feel better by sending him things.”  Then one of the boys looked at my radio that had been playing the entire time and he read it out loud, “The Message, Christian Music.”  And that’s all he said.

We were pulling into the drive of the school by this time and I told them to hop out and get their gear.  One fella asked if he could leave his shoes in my car and I told him no because he would be riding home with someone else.  I didn’t get a chance to speak to them again.  We pulled up at the school around 10 before the game was to start.  I told the mother I would make sure they had a ride home.

After the game, I went to one of our coaches and told him I had given two boys a ride and they needed a ride home.  I had Collin point one of them out because I was embarrassed that during the entire car ride I never asked their names nor did I tell them mine.  The coach proceeded to tell me the youngest was not on the team anymore and he had spoken with the mother and he would not be able to give the boys a ride to the game.  I asked if he would make sure they got home and he said he would.  I told him that they might not have meant to ride with him or to play on the team, but that night, they rode with me to hear a little bit about Jesus.

We never know when that opportunity will be that we can plant the seed.  Would you be able to plant a seed?  Jesus will water the seed, we need only plant it for Him.  This brings to mind one of my favorite passages in the bible where Jesus talks about being the True Vine and we are the branches:

John 15:1-8

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. ³ You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. ⁴ Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

⁵ “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. ⁷ But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! ⁸ When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to the Father.”

Are you producing fruit or are you withering?  Can you plant a seed in a simple conversation for the Lord to help produce fruit in that person?  I challenge you to try to accomplish it just once a week.  Remember, “When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples.  This brings great glory to the Father.”