“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”

— Robert Louis Stevenson

Christmas is coming.  Everywhere I turn there are sparkling lights and symbols of the season.  We have watched Elf; and as December has arrived, I find that I’m getting my own elf on and preparing for the warmth of family and the fun of giving to the people I love.  The gardening season is officially done.  This year’s soil has been laid to rest beneath a blanket of collected autumn leaves.  My rake and gloves and trowel are stored away in the recesses of my winter world, waiting for another Spring.  My gloves may sit idle, but the gardener in me still thinks of planting and growing; and Christmas is a perfect time for sowing seeds.

Now we’ve all been taught not to make a big deal of the good deeds we do.  Gracious givers cultivate the art of not letting the left hand know what the right hand is doing.  Still, we can plant seeds by quietly sharing the joy of giving and encouraging others to join us.  Just as the master gardener takes great pleasure in teaching a child how to plant a seed, we can find great joy in showing children how to give as well as how to receive.

This year my sweetheart’s workplace decided to sponsor an Angel Tree for the Salvation Army.  On the tree were names of children and short lists of their Christmas wishes.  We were offered the opportunity to play Santa for kids who otherwise would have few gifts under their trees.  It was great fun picturing what a four-year-old princess might do with her princess toys or imagining the giggle of a one-year-old the first time her new learning toy light up with color at her touch.  It was a chance to plant some seeds of giving with my granddaughter, as I recalled the years when I would gift wrap packs of gum and pairs of socks so that my children would have the excitement of opening gifts when times were tight.  Because I have been in the position of wrapping such things and calling them gifts, I also can imagine the weight being lifted from the parents of those tree angels when they are able to give something to their children.

In a world where we often focus on staying even and keeping up and exchanging, it is good to plant a seed that pays it forward.  Buy a toy.  Give it to an organization.  They give it to a parent who has little hope of having something to give.  The child receives it from the parent.  Christmas is a perfect time for gardening.  The soil may lie frozen beneath the leaves of Autumn; but a seed planted in the heart of a child can grow a love of giving and send out a vine that trails along and touches many people as it blossoms and bears the fruits of kindness.