It’s often been said that the best way to show God’s love is to love others. Give of yourself, your time, your talents, to help those around you. It could be something as simple as a card to someone who is feeling down or a meal to a grieving family. Maybe God asks you to share your financial blessings by buying dinner for a stranger or making a mortgage payment for an unemployed friend. The important thing is to love others.
Sometimes, though, we need to show God’s love by loving ourselves and making changes that make us more Christ-like. In her book Picking Dandelions: A Search for Eden Among Life’s Weeds, Sarah Cunningham explores this idea.
I was drawn to this book for a few simple reasons. One, not only was Cunningham raised in my home state of Michigan, she actually lives in my hometown. Jackson seems to be getting a bad reputation recently. I was more than eager to read a book that shows something good can come from the city I love. Another is that she teaches at Jackson High School. Not only did I graduate from JHS, I have friends who still attend the school (Children of high school friends. To my knowledge, none of my high school friends are still enrolled in the school.). My sons will someday attend JHS, unless God has something planned that I am unaware of. The idea of a Christian teacher in those halls, one who is so unashamed of her beliefs that she willingly published her faith journey in such a public fashion, gives me hope for their futures.
What kept me reading the book was the simple, straight-forward style. Often it felt more like I was having a conversation with the author, rather than just reading the words. I laughed out loud more times than I can count while reading. My husband and sons must have thought I was losing my mind. After reading it, I feel as if I have known Sarah Cunningham for most of my life, though we have not met face-to-face.
Quite often when I read a non-fiction book, I donate it to my church library or to a friend who asked to read it. Picking Dandelions, though, will remain in my personal library. This is definitely a book I will read again.
If you are looking for an entertaining, enlightening tale of how to grow closing to Christ, check out this book. If you think you are already Christ-like and have no need to change, then you need to read this one. I promise you won’t regret it.
