The house that my wife and I bought just over a year ago now has a wonderful little garden plot off to the side of the house. The previous owners had done a great job making it a place that will be great to grow vegetables. However, our first summer there we were just acclimating to being home owners, and then this summer, we had another daughter, so we have never done anything with that garden. As you can imagine, weeds have chosen the plot, not beautiful tomato plants or vines producing crisp, refreshing cucumbers.
Recently, my wife and I thought about the gardening plot and set as a goal to prep the space for next spring and summer. A little aside: my wife and I live just outside of Park City, UT (which is at 7000 ft elevation), where leaves start to change in August and brisk fall mornings arrive in September, which signals that snow is just around the corner. So on one Sunday after church, while both of our girls were napping at the same time (a miracle in and of itself), my wife and I decided it was time to start.
We went outside and started pulling weeds and garbage that had accumulated over the past year, even finding some rodent skeletons. Our neighbors have a little electric tiller that we borrowed. We made our way to Home Depot to buy some soil. We researched how to compost. Another of our neighbors has a beautiful garden and has offered to guide us and even give us tomato seeds that they save. Our hope is that with some work, our soil will be healthy and able to grow what we desire next spring.
This work is not sexy, nor is it largely seen, let alone celebrated, but anyone who grows plants and vegetables know how absolutely vital it is.
Enjoy the warmth of south Florida, grow as a leader & accelerate the health & growth of your small group ministry by attending our “Accelerate!” Florida Small Group Workshop! Lock in EARLY BIRD price by Oct 23rd!
You probably know where I am going with this.
All of this work my wife and I are doing and will continue to do in our garden hugely correlates with my work as the Small Group Point Person at my church.
Two and a half years into my job, there is still a lot of prep work to do. Sure there is growth, but I doubt I will ever reach a point where the prepping of the soil ever stops. Having just attended the “Accelerate!” Utah Small Group Workshop in April, my plan was largely the unseen work, like working with my senior pastor to hone our definition of what a disciple is and looks like, or filming our spiritual gifts class so that our small groups can use it. There are also the meetings with new people or people I have on my radar who could be small group leaders down the road.
Whether you are brand-new to the role of small group point person or you have been in your current role for over 20 years, where are you prepping the soil for future growth?
Develop a strategic plan to accelerate the health & growth of your small group ministry by reading Steve Gladen’s new book, “Planning Small Groups With Purpose.” Find it HERE
