I Promised you a Rose Garden

I have been taking a break these last couple of weeks from "church stuff"( as my family dearly loves to call it!). Our recent change in leadership has offered me and many others in the parish a chance to stop and smell the roses, so to speak. I always thought it ironic when our former Pastor would lament that someone had taken a rosebush from his back yard. I would smile at every mention of the horrid crime and think, 'What if you woke up and found your church stolen?' I am not really referring only to the actual church closings but also to the parish programs that disappeared in the night. Those programs, and the parishioners that nurtured them, were more valuable than any prize rose bush.

As I have sat back and taken inventory of the parish these past weeks, I am glad that I can once again recognize the scent of roses in the air! People are slowly picking up their tools and heading back to the garden.

From the final chapter of Bruce Wilkinson's Beyond Jabez, "COSTLY INVESTMENT, INFINITE RETURN":


"YOU'RE THE ONE. The Lord is still looking for volunteers. He wants ordinary people who trust the goodness of His giving heart. People who will ask for the blessings He longs to pour out.

He wants men and women who know they are nobodies but who beg Him, "Lord, let me do more for You!" Men and women who will serve Him faithfully as He expands their borders.
He wants servants who know their own limitations. Who daily cast themselves into His mighty hand that He might achieve through them dreams that they could never achieve by themselves.

He wants hearts of contrition, pleading, "Remove my darkness! Keep me from evil, that my service be not hindered!"


That last line means a lot to me. There has been a great darkness placed upon our parishes that is just now starting to lift. I smiled today (briefly) as once again we were told from the pulpit(not from our present pastor) that we need to be unified etc. I almost felt a collective sigh from the congregation that said "Get over it! Accept change, just because it's not what you want, in no way makes it not the Lord's will." Some staff really need to understand that planting knowledge and techniques are not all from the current diocesen textbook. Certain plants do not thrive in certain soils and climates. Take a look at the area, the community of parishioners, and serve them. Unity is a collective effort.

So, as we head into fall, let's harvest the crop that we can because not everything planted during the last season was a waste. It is very important to think about planting anew, when we have a landowner who seems to be willing to collaborate with us. Let the cry go out to all parishioners to grab their gardening tools and be ready to place their hands deep into the soil once more!

The lastest Christian Rock CD that I have been listening to lately has a song called 'Tears to Roses'. Had enough tears? Then it's time to plant again. Let us now plant and tend to the roses that were meant to grow in our communities! That's the Lord's will!