the gang enjoying food and each other after the baptism
zach, christina & scott overlooked by c-bus
mr GQ with LeVeque on his shoulder
crazy- parisian cafe
listening-parisian cafe
interested-parisian cafe
rob & nichole-parisian cafe
conversation-parisian cafe
cuties-parisian cafe
fun times-parisian cafe
pictures- parisian cafe
I’ve been thinking about another Midwestern spring phenomenon…
Dandelions
“We have all seen the simplest of weeds, the venerable dandelion, masquerading as a flower in the fullness of its yellow bloom, and then quickly fading to gray… Who knows how it came to this little garden, drifting in on the wind, no doubt, and settling unseen into the fertile soil to germinate. Soon it sprouts tiny green leaflets that grow and extend themselves upward… Who would want to pluck such a brightly colored thing from the ground? In its full flush it seems to exude the energy of spring and summer, tempting the pollinating bees as ably as any rose I have ever seen. Its slender stalks, so frail and milky when snapped away by the casual gardener, are in fact designed to give way easily, so as to leave the vital root of the plant intact. And its hour and day in the sun is fleeting and brief, a mere wink and a nod before the plant gets about its real business—the making of more dandelions.
In a matter of days the golden crown can wither and whiten to an afro of puffy white and gray seedlings. If your hand was in the slightest stayed, and you have not troweled up the deepest tendrils of its roots by then, you have lost your battle with this hardy weed. Try to pluck it away when it has gone to gray, and you ensure the next generation will colonize your world. The slightest touch sets the feather light seedlings to flight, and they drift and scatter on the barest whisper of a breeze. One dandelion can become a hundred in the space of a few short weeks, and any gardener arriving too late on the scene will have a great challenge before him. Just when you think you have plucked out the last of the feisty little demons, you find ten more have rooted somewhere else.” *
This week during the INSTITUTE we were spending the hour in Solitude, during that time I started thinking about the seed metaphors that Jesus talked about. My mind ran onto dandelions. In the middle of my musing…one of those delicate dandelion seeds came floating right at me. It missed me yet landed right on the picnic table in front of me. (That cinched that I would be writing about it here in this email! )
The seed didn’t find suitable soil there on the picnic table, but a gentle breeze whisked it away more than 20 yards in the air before I couldn’t track it. In that little seed lies resident the whole potential to germinate, to grow, to produce a flower, then to produce seeds that starts the cycle all over again. Amazing.
It’s amazing that the Good News Seed has resident in it the potential to germinate people into followers of Jesus, to grow, to produce fruit and seeds to start the cycle all over again. It’s simple, light, and UNSTOPPABLE! Just like dandelions in the Midwest in springtime…
Press On,
Mike
*the dandelion article above was excerpted from an online article by John Schettler in his article found here
Goofy stuff after serving at Annie & Andy for 2nd Avenue Elementary School
Looking outside my house for the last couple of weeks, there are all kinds of these little maple seeds covering our front yard/garden. Hundreds and hundreds of these little seeds have descended upon us.
Unfortunately for my neighbors, the way God designed these little seeds is that as they fall from the tree, they take flight. They twist like a helicopter blade and the wind can carry them far from the tree.
In fact, that’s what I remember calling them as a kid–“helicopters.” Our whole street is littered with these seeds. Neighbors several doors down have these little guys in their yards as well.
When you get a large mature tree, these seeds can go a long way. Our tree is huge, so it’s easy to see how these helicopters can get carried far away from the tree.
What a great illustration of what we celebrated on Sunday night as we assembled folks from our network of house churches. During the last section of the night, we took time to pray for those who have been apart of our community and now are sprinkled around the globe.
It was amazing to see the list of people that we are connected with relationally around the globe. You can check out the list HERE (PDF). If you are on it, you got prayed for on Sunday night! (I apologize ahead of time if you aren’t on the list and feel like you should be. Anytime you do a list you leave people out…so I’m sure this is no exception!)
We see ourselves having a GlobaLocal mission. Certainly God has given us a mission for our neighborhoods and urban Columbus. At the same time, we understand that God moves people (See Acts 17:26-27). Just like those helicopter seeds are carried by the wind, we know that people are carried to new places by the Spirit.
We have been privileged to know and invest in such wonderful people who are now all over the place. We pray that disciples will be made by these and that local expressions of the church will grow up in those new places.
God’s creation grows and reproduces…so should His Church. We rejoice in the opportunity to serve the King and the Body. We are glad He is sowing us all over the world!
mature tree