Look closely you can see my Dad and I standing in front of what used to be seedlings
Vision, a picture of a preferable future. George Barna shared this definition of vision in his book Turnaround Churches. For some reason Mr. Barna’s definition spoke to me and I have used it throughout my ministry when talking about vision. A personal vision, a communities vision is a picture not of what is…but of what could be.
DAD’S VISION FOR SOME TREES
Nancy and I have been married twenty six years. When Nancy first came around my families home in New Baltimore, NY my father had a vision. He wanted trees on a piece of property that he owned across from his house. He went and got tiny little seedlings and began to plant…not for today, but for the future. Nancy laughed at his trees. To be honest there were a lot of people who gave my dad a hard time. These trees were less than the Charlie Brown type trees. They were basically twigs with a little green on them. Their current reality did not stop my dad. He had a vision of what could be.
The ground was hard. Digging a hole to plant the trees (twigs) with a shovel was not an option. Armed with a large metal bar my Dad went and began to drill small holes into the ground. These holes were just big enough for a little dirt and the twigs. One of Dad’s neighbors, Mr. Stafford, watched as the seedlings were planted one by one. Mr. Stafford was one of the funniest men to ever live. Dad was hard at work planting when all of a sudden from across the street he heard someone shout, “Timber!” [Read more…]
