If we were making a garden where flowers and vegetables grow,

We must work the ground and plant the seed, carefully, row by row.

A garden needs a great deal of work, back-breaking and tiring toil,

But we’re working with God and his miracles when we’re working with the soil.

And that’s the way with the little ones entrusted to our care,

We must work the ground and plant the seeds and tend them with a prayer.

Plant seeds of trust and faith and hope, and they will grow big and strong,

Pull out all the hate and envy and greed, for these are the weeds of wrong.

For children to grow up good and kind with a heart that’s really pure,

We need patience and love to instill in them the things we hope will endure.

This truth we know about children – we cannot train them alone,

But we and God find a miracle when the children are fully grown.

– Ted Shipsey