A Careless Sower

Do you discern words to live by for your year? Karen Estep does. Here she shares her reaction to her words for 2026.  

I am not a farmer. To be perfectly honest, most of the plants I try to grow on my own die. There is current evidence of this in the once beautiful cactus, which my gracious goddaughter gave to me last year, which is displayed on my desk at school in its sometimes-horrendous state. My poor students take pity on it every once in a while and try to revive it.  

 If you can name a plant that is hard to kill, I have probably met that challenge. I even almost killed bamboo. This just happens to be a special talent that I possess, whether I like it or not. So, when God placed my words of the year for 2026 on my heart, I quickly laughed and responded back to Him, “No way!”  

The parable that inspired my words for 2026 comes from the parable of the sower, found in the 13th chapter of Matthew's Gospel. The sower throws seeds on different types of soil in the parable. Some of the soil is rocky, some is too dry, and some is the perfect condition to grow a harvest. During Jesus’ time, people would have recognized this sower as careless because seeds would have been expensive, not something that a person just wasted by spreading the seeds everywhere, not caring where the seeds landed. Seeds meant food, a harvest for trading, or even the opportunity to create more seeds. For a sower to be careless would have been seen as something very foolish and stupid.  

Look at the Sower 

Now, a lot of times, when we look at the parable of the sower, we look at the soil that the seeds fall on and realize that some of those seeds will be bird food. However, the challenge that I was left with when God spoke these words to me was not to look at the soil but to look at the sower. Jesus is the sower, and His love for all of humanity is the seed. Jesus spread His love in all of the places he traveled. He didn’t require the recipients to be perfect or to be 100% receptive to His love right away. He just threw His love for us and all of humanity like the careless sower in the parable threw the seeds.  

In my ultimate journey to be more Christ-like, God has challenged me to be a “careless sower” in 2026. He has challenged me to spread the Gospel using my entire life and to not care about where it may land. God has given me a challenge to evangelize in all ways. We never know when or where the way we live our life will inspire others, which is why being a Christian is a lifestyle as much as it is a relationship with Christ. In fact, it is our relationship with Christ that should drive our lifestyle. I’m also reminded of the rule for my sorority in college: “You may be the only Delta Zeta that a person meets, so act accordingly.” 

There Are Some Challenges 

Another and sometimes frustrating part about being a “careless sower” is that I may never know the fruit or the harvest that comes from the seeds I sow, and I have to learn to be OK with this. It matters more that I planted the seeds of God’s love, than knowing if the harvest was good! We live in such an instant gratification culture that we want to see the results of our work immediately. However, that's part of the call of being a mother, educator, and evangelizer. We may have to see our fruit in Heaven, not earthside.  

How Can We Be Careless Sowers Together?  

I want to challenge everyone to be a careless sower with me this year. How can you come along on this journey with me? Well, start by evangelizing in little ways. I challenged my students to smile at strangers, be kind to yourself and one another, and if you see someone that needs help, help! Another way to evangelize is by wearing Catholic shirts or jewelry out while you run errands. It helps open up possible conversations. You could also bring a small book or prayer book with you for when you have to wait in line at stores, and start reading away. People seem to always be curious about what others are reading. You can also offer to pray for others in secular spaces. We spread our faith to others by making sure that we live our faith to others!  

I may not be a farmer in the practical sense of the word (you will probably always have to watch out for the plants on my desk), but I’m going to do my best job at the job that Christ has called me to do this year. I’m going to be a careless sower.  

Share your thoughts with the Catholic Mom community! You'll find the comment box below the author's bio and list of recommended articles.

Copyright 2026 Karen Estep
Images: (top, bottom) Canva; (center) copyright 2026 Karen Estep, all rights reserved.