Planting Trees

I first met Coach Helm when my oldest son was beginning to play youth football. Coach had been part of starting the local youth football team but had moved on to opening a school and starting the Tribe athletic program which served middle and high school athletes in the homeschool community.

Coach Helm reached out to me about five years later to coach the Tribe middle school football team. My oldest son was still a year away from being able to play but I felt called to accept the opportunity and it offered me the chance to get back into coaching young men.

I was blessed to be able to continue the ministry which Coach Helm had started. It was an honor to reap from the field which he had toiled, planted and tended to for over a decade.

Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus 19:9-10

By allowing the poor to collect their own food it provided them with dignity and a sense of accomplishment. They were not wholly dependent upon the farmer who had sown because they were able to reap through their own efforts.

Likewise, we should follow the same advice when we sow and our expectations for reaping. We should ask ourselves, "What has God called for us to sow into that we can leave for others to reap." We should sow knowing we may or may not be able to sit under the shade of the tree which we planted.

When we come upon fields which others have planted, we should praise God as well and reap from the edges. We should rejoice and give God the credit for the opportunity to be the vehicle which draws others toward him.

Coach Helm was called on to other ministries and he was not around as the Tribe football program started a run of six straight state title game appearances. While he was not able to sit under the shade of the tree he had planted, he provided a field from which others could reap. It was his passion for the Lord which provided the foundation which continues to bless many families in our community.