Apple Seeds - Day #1

I like to eat apples - generally, I eat the whole apple, core and all. Well, not all. I don't eat the seeds. After doing a little research, I discovered that the seeds have low levels of arsenic in them and if you eat too many they can yield digestive woes. Beyond that, they aren't terribly tasty.

Nonetheless, I always pause and feel a little bummed as I throw away my apple seeds. Nearly every time I think to myself, 'I should plant these.' (I usually eat an apple each day, so this thought occurs pretty regularly - and I have kept the doctor away for quite some time, ha!)

Its exciting to think on the potential of a seed. To think that such a small thing can become a large tree that bears fruit year after year is pretty amazing. Its no wonder that Jesus describes the Gospel as a seed (Matt. 13), and James describes God's word as a seed that has been planted in believers (James 1:21). There is something mysterious and wonderful about how seeds seem so inert, yet when planted and cared for yield amazing life.

All this to say, today as I ate an apple I reached a tipping point. Usually, I toss my seeds away under the rationale that even if I did plant them and begin to grow a fledgling tree, I would not have a place to plant it once it was time to put it in the ground. This afternoon that thought hit a nerve. I'll be honest, most days I long for a sense of home. I've been a nomadic apartment dweller for the past 6 years since college, never living in one place for more than 2 years. Something about reaching the late 20's has stirred in me the desire for a sense of permanency. I desire to stay in one place and 'throw down roots.' I regularly ask God about this - is this something I selfishly want or something he is stirring in me?

So, today I did it. I saved those little seeds and resolved to plant them. I did a little internet research, and as it turns out you don't just stick them in some soil and hope for the best - I was slightly disenchanted considering the ease of all the Johnny Appleseed myths that make it seem like he just dropped them around like breadcrumbs. Currently, my wonderful, potential-filled seeds are chilling (figuratively and literally) in the refrigerator in a damp napkin and ziploc bag. They'll need to stay there for approximately 6 weeks until they begin to sprout. I'm hoping they will be overachievers and not take so long.

I'll keep you all posted on their progress - mostly because its fun to track progress, but maybe also partially to poke fun at the ever-so-prevalent 'baby bump' pictures that all my pregnant friends post, ha! The progress shall certainly be slower and less life changing than a pregnancy. Nonetheless, I find myself hopeful that when the time comes for this fledgling tree to find a permanent place in the ground, that perhaps we will be able to throw down our roots together.