Heritage Flowers

Sneak a peak outside the sanctuary windows, and you'll see that our iris are blooming, to be followed shortly by our peonies.

These marvelous emblems of God's creation were gifts to us a few years back. Their story is a poignant reminder of the meaning of stewardship.

One of our members was walking past an old home in Chesterfield, she noticed that the place had been sold. Soon a developer would level the grounds to a subdivision of new homes. Despite the home's state of disrepair, the gardens were in full bloom. Our member noticed the garden's lush beauty, and commented on it to someone standing nearby. The person, a family member of the home's owner, explained that the owner had loved this garden, and worked hard at cultivating it. He had cared for these plants as if they were children, raising them over decades of his life at the old place. With the owner gone, the home place sold, soon the plants would be bulldozed, too. Our member inquired if he would be interested in donating the plants to Woodlawn Chapel. With the help of others, the plants were loaded in an old pick up and replanted around our building.

Look at our heritage flowers...transplanted in love, shared from one generation to the next. What a great statement about stewardship, and a living reminder of one man's gift of love.

Stewardship is not just writing checks. It's remembering that what we have has been transplanted from another's garden. We're called to till the soil, to make it grow, to cause it to bloom. In God's timing, we may be called to transfer a bit of what we have into another garden. This could be our regular giving to the church, it could be special gifts, or it could be a heritage gift of a portion of our estate. Please consider the state of your garden, and pray about how you will share a portion of its beauty with generations to come. For information about including Woodlawn Chapel in your estate planning, please contact the pastor.