DIRTY HANDS

      Sound strange? Please read on. Last week I worked in my little garden. The best stress reliever around is to be found working alongside Mother Nature. Seeming problems melt away as we dirty our hands while turning sod, pulling weeds, spreading a little of the old fashioned fertilizer, making  rows, placing seeds in the furrows and then carefully covering the seed while saying a  prayer for sun, rain and growth. Periodic visits to a garden are an absolute necessity. Weeds need to be weeded and sometimes showers from above need a little assistance from a garden hose! The dirty hands and aching knees are more than compensated though by little green stems that struggle through the soil to grasp the sunlight above. If we are patient we will reap the benefits of fresh vegetables straight from the garden. When we grow it ourselves it tastes great. It may not be as pretty as the package in the store but we will have the satisfaction of having grown it ourselves even though we did get our hands dirty.

   When we look at our church we love to see signs of growth as well. We want to see a strong youth ministry, a growing Sunday School, an active Senior’s Program, an abundant supply of Fellowship Ministries, a growing Membership Roll, extensive Outreach Ministries and of course Sparkling Worship. There are two ways of finding the above.  Find a church where all these things are in place and prepare to settle in and enjoy yourself. This is  much like finding that perfect head of lettuce in your corner grocerystore. It looks nice in the package and you didn’t have to sweat or get your hands dirty. Enjoy! Now the second way of finding a Growing Church is by rolling up your sleeves, getting down on your knees and being prepared to get your hands dirty. Church Volunteers are God’s Gardeners who don’t mind working hard because God has given them a vision of what happens when people work together.

   Thank you to all our volunteers who don’t mind sweating and getting their hands dirty. Consider this an invitation to all to join the Gardener’s Club.

Your Pastor & Friend

John