The Seeds of Influence

                                  

 The Seeds of Influence

 

Spring is here, and there is so much to do.  I look out my window and think, look at all the work I have to do!

In the Spring a lot of things that look like they are dead and gone, start growing.  We see the fruit from seeds that grow from last year.  We are not talking about oranges and grapes but about tulips, peonies, and multiple other perennials. This is something that happens normally in the spring. As we see the garden grow, we are seeing more and more of what it’s producing. 

Everything we do or don’t do in life is like planting seeds.  When we are dead and gone the seeds planted by our lives will continue to grow. 

My dad died when my youngest child was a baby.  My dad was a dedicated provider for his family.  He worked three jobs to provide for our family when I was a toddler.  He liked to rebuild engines and he had a lot of friends. My dad liked to listen to me sing. I loved both my mom and my dad. My dad died suddenly from a massive heart attack. He died at 57 yrs old while chopping wood. He was always working up to the day he died.  

My mother and my stepfather died about a year ago. I miss them both and think about them every day,

My mother was an excellent cook and consistently had meals on the table.  She was a good housekeeper and could do any craft.  She was a very gifted manager and a hard worker.  I looked up to her for all her good qualities.  My mother always used endearing words, like, Sweetheart, Honey, and Baby.  

 

 My stepfather was a very hard worker and consistently took care of their property.  He took his mother with him to his work and she ran her little crafting/ flee market business up until she was in her 90s.  They died at the same time.  Their funerals were at the same time. They both worked up until the day they died. 

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Just recently, three people died that impacted my life. My Son In-laws mother died.  She was only 9 years older than me. She was the other grandmother to my grandchildren. She was a sweet Christian, a beautiful person.  She has been an influence on my grandchildren and my daughter.  She has planted some good seeds and those seeds will continue to grow in our hearts and the hearts of so many. 

This past week two other great people died, Patch the Pirate and also Charles Stanley, both these men, through their ministries, impacted my life and also my family’s life.  As a young mother, I started listening to Charles Stanley and also Patch the Pirate.  I often sang Patch the Pirate songs as I reminded my children to be good and to have a better attitude.  I didn’t really have a stable home life in my youth, my mother left us. My dad had his own life. I quit school after my mother left and no one was there to encourage me otherwise.  Eventually, I did take the GED test.  When I was a teenager, I sought God even though I didn’t always make good decisions. I attended church and Sunday School consistently. The people of my church picked me up every Wednesday and Sunday for all services.  

I made a profession of faith at seven years old and was baptized with my mother.  I made sure of my salvation and I was re-baptized just after turning 15 years old. I was saved in an Independent F Baptist Church. I met my husband and married at 23 years old.  We've been married for 36 years.  

I did not know how to raise children and looked for that counsel through Charles Stanley’s Radio Ministry.  Patch the Pirate and also Focus on The Family’s Odyssey Audio Ministry was the biggest influence in raising our children in a way that would please God. I asked God to help me each day and I still ask God to help me each day.  He helped me through good people and their influence.  

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You will always be an influence in our lives.  We miss you more each day and appreciate you more and more.  Your influence will be the flowers that grow in our hearts and lives and the strength that helps us to stand.  Love you Forever.

God uses our influence when we think our influence is done. 

Susan Y Nikitenko

April 24, 2023 ©

 

2 Corinthians 9:6 

But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

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Heart and Flowers Hand Drawn Susan Nikitenko 2023

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