The seedlings in the picture above are sitting in front of the window next to Lynn Brown's desk at the Waterloo offices. She's getting them ready to be planted in our community garden in the next month or so.
It reminded me a few other signs of growth at Waterloo recently:
- We are growing in our generosity. Stories of generous giving here and here are wonderful signs of a culture of generosity growing up at a grassroots level. We're also growing in our giving on the weekends.
- We are growing in our attendance. Last weekend we had 188 people in the worship center. Add volunteers and kids to that number, and we had 299 people in attendance at Hoover last weekend. Sixteen people filled out Family Tabs indicating that they were 1st time guests.
- We are growing in our vision. For us, one of the altars that we wanted to climb onto this year was the altar of compassion. Many of us have indeed climbed on:
- A total of 60 people have now taken one of Pastor Carl's Urban Compassion classes.
- 30 of those 60 have continued as small groups meeting to continue on the journey of compassion to our urban brothers and sisters.
- 15 of those 30 are regularly serving on their own in an urban setting - whether at the Boys and Girls club, Salvation Army, Waterloo Schools mentoring, or in some other capacity.
This reminds me of a parable Jesus used to describe how his kingdom grows:
He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” Matthew 13:31-32
God is definitely growing something up in us and among us. This week, slow down long enough to ask yourself: who in your circle needs to be a part of what God is growing up at Waterloo?
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