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Nurturing Soil & Soul: MCC Kids in the Garden |
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Growing Point: Garden lessons in the Bible Soul Water: Nurturing your soul through prayer Earth Explorations: Nurturing Connections to the Soil Seeds for Thought: Additional Resources to Nurture Soil & Soul
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Garden lessons in the Bible My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You’re deeply rooted in him. You’re well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving. -Colossians 2: 6-7 The Message
The plants in our garden have developed deep roots as they have grown this summer. The roots help the plant in several ways: 1) they support the plant so it doesn’t topple over from the weight of the above ground plant, 2) they keep the plant firmly grounded in one place so it stays put no matter what the weather, and 3) they soak up water and nutrients from the soil to feed and nourish the plant. All summer during MCC Kids in the Garden, we have been nurturing your connections to soil and soul. You have been learning about plants and how the grow in the garden. And you have been learning about Bible stories and verses that relate to the garden. With each thing you learn, soil and soul are nurtured and the roots of your faith grow that much deeper. As your faith grows, these roots support you and keep you more firmly grounded, so that when you face challenging situations you are better able to stay upright and weather the storm so to speak. Also, as your faith grows, you are better able to do all sorts of things like pray, sing songs, and read the Bible that feed your soul and help your faith grow even stronger. In our Bible verse for today’s lesson, Paul is telling the people from the town called Colosse that, like you, they are deeply rooted in their faith. His next point is that now that they have roots, he is telling them to go out and live their faith – let their faith guide every thought they have, every word they speak, every choice they make, every action they take. Your challenge is to apply Paul’s words to your own life.Now that you have learned about growing vegetables in the garden, we have given each of you your own set of tools. We give you these out of love and encourage you to take these tools and continue to grow with Jesus, the Good Gardener, in heart, soul and soil. back to top of Lesson 14: Becoming Rooted
Nurturing your soul through prayer Dear Jesus, You are the Good Gardener. You nurture our hearts and our souls. Thank you for my parents, my teachers and my pastors, who have all nurtured me and helped me to grow strong roots of faith. These roots hold me up straight and tall. These roots keep me strong when I face difficult situations. These roots feed me and help my faith to grow even more. It is comforting to know that my faith roots hold me so firmly in place and that you are always right there by my side. Thank you for being with me no matter what. Together, I know we can achieve great things. Amen back to top of Lesson 14: Becoming Rooted
Nurturing Connections to the Soil Different plants grow different kinds of roots. Some have lots tiny roots that spread out very near the surface of the soil. Some, like garlic mustard, have a kink in their stem where it connects with the root, so that it is difficult to pull up the whole stem and root – a definite advantage if you are a weed trying to survive and outsmart hard working gardeners like yourself. Other plants send down REALLY deep roots. Native prairie plants fall into this category. Some prairie plants can have roots that extend up to 25 feet down under ground – that is deeper down than if you dug a hole that your whole house would fit in so the roof would not stick up above the ground. Some prairie plants not only have really deep roots, but they also soak up water really fast. This is why native prairie plants are used in rain gardens. The idea is that water is directed to the rain garden off a roof, driveway, parking lot, or other impermeable surface. Rain gardens are planted in a slight depression to allow the water to pool and give the plants some time to soak up the water. When this happens the water is returned to the ground, rather than becoming runoff and entering the storm sewer system. MCC has a rain garden located outside Pastor Jeff’s office window. If you would like to learn more about MCC’s rain garden, contact Lois Komai. To learn more about rain gardens, check out these websites: http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/runoff/rg/ http://clean-water.uwex.edu/pubs/pdf/home.rgmanual.pdf http://sueellingson.com/raingardens/ http://www.prairienursery.com/howTo/gardening/prairie_roots.htm
back to top of Lesson 14: Becoming Rooted
Additional Resources to Nurture Soil & Soul You have good roots. It is now up to you to continue to nurture your roots – keep them strong and continue to grow them even deeper. MCC is here to help you continue to grow your roots. Our time together in the garden has come to a close for this year. Now it is time for another season of Sunday school. We invite and encourage you to be part of one of our Sunday school classes this year. Rally Day (the first day of Sunday school) is Sept. 7. Sunday school meets from 9:00 to 10:00 each Sunday for everyone ages 3 through adult. Kids in grades 4/5 and older go directly to their Sunday school room at 9:00. Kids in preschool through 3rd grade first go to the Blessing room for music time and then their teachers will come get them to take them to their Sunday school class. No need to register. Just show up and have a good time. We have a wonderful group of teachers for this year. Preschool (Tina Eder, Julie Walsh, Sarah Zutz); K-1 (Mary Ellen Gabriel, Kristen Malecki, Sarah Strong, Kris Todd); 2-3 (Micki Bradt, Beth Falkos, Lois Komai, Martha McCurdy); 4-5 (Scott and Ann Bush, Julie Hunter, Bill Putnam, Adam Schneider); Middle High (Doug Crews-Nelson, Ellen Lindgren, Dave and Kathy Mack); Senior High (Dan and Jen Streit); and Music (Mary Schmelzer). They look forward to having you in their class this fall! Thanks for all your help in the garden! |
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Madison Christian Community • 7118 Old Sauk Road • Madison, WI 53717-1099 • Phone: 608-836-1455 |
