neighborhood meetings

As a friend of Harvest Vineyard, I attended their Walnut Neighborhood Association meeting the other night. Representatives from 3 churches in the neighborhood, a retirement center, and residents gather monthly to share concerns and thoughts with one another, a city police officer, and a councilman. There's talk about a spring neighborhood clean-up date, and room to bring ideas to the table. One of Orchard Hill's members is a passionate gardener. She dreams of a community garden and wonders if there's interest in this neighborhood. I brought up the topic, and residents spoke of a community garden that was tried in the past in an open field area. There was also a neighborhood initiative called "Miracle of Marigolds" in which the neighborhood has had a mass marigold planting day on corners of properties. Mainentance, theft, and vandalism became part of the discussion, and neighbors talked about how it became easier and more manageable to just plant individual garden plots and maintain their own space.


This discussion made me begin to wonder if a little creativity is all that is needed to consider how there might be some form of community gardening that would work. Especially if someone is called and committed to it. I'm hearing from other friends, both within the neighborhood and from without, that have some dreams and passions to address various needs in the neighborhood. It will be the call from God in their lives that is needed to pursue those dreams and visions. And the encouragement and permission from others to let the person know that he/she can and should follow the call of God. Any thoughts out there about the topic of calling?