Picking Dandelions: A Search for Eden Among Life's Weeds [Paperback]

Sarah Cunningham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2, 2010

Sarah Cunningham, a moderate middle-class white girl who grew up in the Michigan countryside, speaks about God with humor and honesty more characteristic of liberal west-coast writers. In this warm and witty memoir, she describes finding and keeping a personal faith in the quirky settings of her ultra-Christian childhood. Whether recounting living next to a cemetery, teaching at-risk high schoolers, or listening to her grandmother's stories about being a British 'war bride,' the author weaves faith into down-to-earth metaphors of growth and renewal, planting and reaping, greenery and weeds. In the end, Cunningham succeeds in sifting through the dysfunctions and flaws of human life and discovering pockets of God's original Eden goodness for both herself and for you. Picking Dandelions is a candid and personal account of outgrowing laissez-faire Christianity, moving into mature faith, and realizing that a God-following person is a changing person ... and you just might follow suit.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'The moment I met Sarah Cunningham, I was blown away by her passion, deep wisdom, and love for God. Without question she is a voice that we all need to be listening to. Picking Dandelions is a beautifully honest look at life, the struggle of faith, and embracing change in our lives.' -- Mike Foster, creative principal at PlainJoe Studios

From the Publisher

I'm a fan of Sarah Cunningham. For many reasons. And I'm a fan of her latest book, Picking Dandelions. You should buy a copy. ...Sarah has a fresh perspective on faith, a writing style that is personal and unique, and an uncanny way to make you laugh, smile, and cry all within a couple of pages. -Bradlomenick.com

The moment I met Sarah Cunningham I was blown away by her passion, deep wisdom, and love for God. Without question she is a voice that we all need to be listening to. Picking Dandelions is a beautifully honest look at life, the struggle of faith, and embracing change in our lives. -Mike Foster, Potsc.com

Well... the rumor is Donald Miller wrote the book under the pen name, Sarah Cunningham (joking). Benarment.com

Does Cunningham have anything to offer in this crowded [memoir] genre? Absolutely. For one thing, great writing. I read a lot of books, and a very few are characterized by the quality of writing in this book. A few pages into this memoir and I relaxed. It's the same feeling you get (I imagine) when you're being chauffeured by someone who really knows how to drive. -Daryl Dash

Sarah describes herself as a moderate middle-class white girl who grew up in the Michigan countryside, but speaks about God with humor and honesty more characteristic of liberal west-coast writers. Anne Lamott is one of her faves. Susanisaacs.net

It's sort of refreshing that Sarah, raised in the right wing, can weave elements of faith into a spiritual memoir too because it suggests that there are valid, messy spiritual discoveries for all of us, no matter what corner of the earth or political landscape we grow up on. -Anne Jackson, Flowerdust.net

[Sarah Cunningham] is a great writer. She's an interesting person. She's got excellent stories to tell and makes thoughtful observations about contemporary Christianity. I loved this book. Jasonboyett.com

...[Sarah] she has found how to tell compelling stories as Sarah Cunningham much like Donald Miller tells authentic stories as Donald Miller. You don't feel like you're reading a Miller clone, but you do have someone who knows how to tell a good story, to share self-deprecating scenarios, and to reflect on meeting God in the everyday scenes of life. -Ed Cyzewski, Inamirrordimly.com

Cunningham's writing is refreshing, particularly because she's a female contemporary--only two years older than me. I'm tired of reading about the spiritual journeys of 40 year-old men. -Amy Sondova

In Sarah Cunningham, I find all of the the raw, unembellished honesty, the fervent hope, and handcrafted needlework of poetic prose that made me fall in love with Anne Lamott. -Ian Scott Patterson

Cunningham's writing is crisp and entertaining, and her humor gently self-deprecating. She gleans her spiritual insights from the most mundane moments, but that doesn't make them mundane insights. -Marilyn Matevia

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (February 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310292476
• ISBN-13: 978-0310292470
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,187,663 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

From living in a Chicago homeless shelter to leading a disaster relief team at Ground Zero, Sarah sunk her early twenties into whirlwind attempts to save the world.

After earning a degree in Urban Studies, she convinced Westwinds Community Church to create a new position for her: "Director of Outreach" (it sounded better than "Overzealous Social Activist" on business cards).

Three years later, Sarah married Chuck Cunningham and joined her new husband teaching area high schoolers and living in an an unfortunately pink house on the south side of Prison City (nicknamed such because it houses the state prison). These experiences combined to inspire Sarah's first book, Dear Church: Letters From a Disillusioned Generation.

More recently, Sarah finished her Masters in Educational Leadership, which unfortunately resulted in no additional respect from her manic Jack Russell terrier, Wrigley. She and her husband currently live in southeast Michigan where they desperately try to meet the demands of the Emperor of their household, who is also known as the infant Justus.

Sarah's spare time is devoted to matters of national importance, such as watching House, LOST, The Office, Big Brother, Chuck and Project Runway. She also surfs the web with impressive commitment, clicking on bizarre AOL "news" blurbs, obsessively checking her email, and leaving cheesy comments on her friends' facebook pages. She loves theology, but also reads lighter authors like Anne Lamott.

Sarah is a member of the Burnside Writer's Collective, founded by Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz. She has also contributed to Christian resources such as Relevant Magazine, Catalyst Publications, Next Wave, Ginkworld, and the Ooze. She and her faith writings have been featured in a wide range of media, including the Dallas Morning News, the Wichita Eagle, the USA Today and Christianity Today's Leadership Journal.

In addition to Dear Church and Picking Weeds, Sarah also contributed to the Mosaic Bible (Tyndale 2009), unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity and Why It Matters by David Kinnaman (Baker Books, October 2007) and Out of the Ooze (NavPress, November 2007).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What Happens when Eden is Full of Weeds?, February 8, 2010

By 

Chad Estes (Boise, Idaho, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Picking Dandelions: A Search for Eden Among Life's Weeds (Paperback)

Some people write because they are gifted at shaping sentences into beautiful, poetic expressions. Holding a book from a gifted writer is like drinking out of a stemmed glass of fine crystal. The look and feel is captivating, even when the wine inside was poured from a cardboard box. Other people write because they have a story worth telling. Depending on the significance of the narrative the quality of the serving cup can be somewhat overlooked. So when you find a writer who not only has the talent for words but also a tale to tell, you have a found a rare gift.

When I started reading Sarah Cunningham's second book, "Picking Dandelions," I knew I had found one of those memoirs that were worth championing both for its prose and its purpose. Often times Christian books seem nothing more than an outline from a speaker's favorite sermon that have been fluffed up to fit between the covers. Even when the message is worth sharing the art of story telling lacks any creativity that gives the book real body. But my early response to "Picking Dandelions" was that Sarah Cunningham could write. And as I continued, fully enjoying her story telling, I recognized its significance as well.

Cunningham describes her "Search for faith among life's weeds" from her days of growing up the daughter of a Baptist minister to her current roles as a teacher and new mother. Along the way she recognizes that her faith wasn't a "one and done" event like a sinner's prayer, but incorporates a lifetime of growing. Her journey to and through this understanding is full of imagery that will pull the reader into their own faith pilgrimage as well.

Though broken into nine sections, Cunningham's book has three main parts. The first two sections tell of the observations she had about faith as a child and adolescent. The next couple of sections concentrate on the segment of her life when she attempted to change the world around her. (There is a very poignant section where she describes her various outreach positions that sprung from her internships while at a Christian college and her staff roles at a church.) About half way through the book her energies are turned inwards as she realizes her attempts at creating a new Eden means she has to embody that garden within herself.

What does it mean to change? Does it matter if your faith is stale? How do you go about dealing with spiritual weeds? Cunningham asks these questions of herself, never getting preachy with the readers, which make this dandelion wine a rare, and worth imbibing, vintage.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If You Like Anne Lamott, You'll Like Sarah Cunningham, April 8, 2010

By 

Shelby - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Picking Dandelions: A Search for Eden Among Life's Weeds (Paperback)

A lot of readers eat up Anne Lamott (including this author, I have a feeling, who mentions Anne in her preface). They like Lamott's honesty and her irreverence. And let's be real: they like the dramatic ups and downs of her life story. Cunningham is cut from the same stylistic cloth although you almost wouldn't expect it since her life took a decidedly cleaner path than Lamott's. Her life is different (more solidly rooted in the faith and less rocky). But Cunningham's journey is still compelling and inviting. It takes up leading a relief team to Ground Zero and living in a homeless shelter among other things. And although she isn't a Lamott clone, you get the sense you're reading the opening book of someone whose name is going to cling to book club lists the same way. If you like Lamott for her style and honesty and humor, I think you'll see some of her younger prattling idealistic side in Cunningham.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book. Here's an Interview with Sarah, March 17, 2010

By 

Benjamin Arment (Virginia Beach, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Picking Dandelions: A Search for Eden Among Life's Weeds (Paperback)

So I interviewed Sarah Cunningham about her new book Picking Dandelions...

ME: Sarah, congrats on the new book. What's it about?

SARAH: "It's a loose collection of stories that play to a universal theme--that humans (especially people in the faith) can't afford the luxury of unchanged living. And it paints a metaphor of having to weed out one's life to make room for more Eden intentions; more of the life God intended."

ME: Who is it for? Cuz I see the dandelion, and I'm like...

SARAH: "I was thinking it would be 30 to 50 year old multi-tasking women, probably juggling a fast-paced career, laundry duty, and reading three or four books simultaneously. Maybe using a half-completed to-do list as a bookmark."

ME: But no?

SARAH: "I was surprised that six of the seven people who opted to endorse the book were... men. And after the book hit the shelves, men have consistently made up about half the reviewers."

ME: Well, there is a rumor going around that Donald Miller wrote the book under the pen name "Sarah Cunningham."

SARAH: "Its been funny to watch. A lot of the men who mention the book to me, in emails or online, abbreviate it as PD--as if the title and the bright fuzzy flower on the cover, becomes a little more masculine."

ME: Are you surprised that men are reading it then?

SARAH: "Sorta. I was a little surprised that men got over the cover image. It wasn't a bubble letter cursive font or hearts and lipstick smeared all over the cover, but it played to women. Now I imagine this underground group of muscle-y guys, flipping through the book with paper bags over their heads. Like the sports fans who are embarrassed by their teams."

ME: What do you think that means?

SARAH: "Maybe the metaphor is bigger than I realized then. Its not just women kneeling in their gardens pulling stray dandelions; it's men firing up the weed-eater and mowing down hundreds at a time."

ME: Yeah, that sounds like me.