Valerie Ellis, Christian Children’s Author & Speaker
Meet Valerie Ellis - Again!
I met with Valerie last year as she was writing her newest release: Wild Faith Devotional for Kids. Now it’s available!
Watch this video where I sit down with this popular children’s author, speaker, and blogger at Our Everyday Parables, for a conversation about faith, animals, and writing for children.
Valerie shares how she weaves faith naturally into her stories while incorporating fascinating animal facts—and some of the research behind them. Valerie and I also talk about our writing and research processes, where story ideas come from, and the joys and challenges of writing for young readers.
Plus, I give a sneak peek at Connection, my upcoming middle-grade historical novel and the first book in the Becoming Charles Sawyer series.
A Moment of Wonder
What Seeds Know
By September, the garden is beginning to change.
Some flowers that were bright with color only weeks ago are fading. Petals fall. Stems turn brown. Seed heads appear where blossoms once grew.
It might look as though the plants are simply finishing their work for the year.
But look closer.
Inside those dry pods and fading flowers, something remarkable is happening. Seeds are forming.
Each tiny seed holds what it needs to begin again. Some will fall to the ground near the plant that produced them. Others will hitch a ride on an animal’s fur or be carried to a new place by the wind. Some may remain where they land through cold winter days, waiting for warmth and moisture to awaken them.
They don't know what spring will look like. They simply wait. There is something comforting about that.
We often want to see what comes next. We want to know that the things we have planted—with our hands, our words, our work, or our love—will grow into something good. But sometimes a season ends before we ever see the result.
The Bible reminds us, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1 KJV)
Perhaps seeds can remind us of that, too.
September is not only a season of fading. It is a season of preparation. What looks like an ending may be quietly holding a beginning.
The next time you pass a fading flower, stop and look closely. Can you find its seeds? Notice their shapes and sizes. Watch for seeds floating through the air or clinging to your clothes after a walk.
And remember that God is at work in seasons of waiting, too.
What might you notice this month?
An Acorn is a Seed!
Someday, this acorn might become a mighty oak tree.
