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

Sarah Raymond Cunningham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 9, 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 <br><br>

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

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan; 1St Edition edition (February 9, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310292476
• ISBN-13: 978-0310292470
• Product Dimensions: 0.6 x 5.5 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #650,835 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.

Sarah went on to publish Picking Dandelions, a memoir-style collection of writings on spiritual change. She 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). In 2012, she released The Donkey in the Living Room, a 28-page illustrated children's book inviting families to unwrap manger scene figures and read each figure's story together in the days leading up to Christmas. She also has two upcoming releases, Portable Faith (Abingdon) and the Well Balanced World Changer (Moody) in 2013. Zondervan also plans to release a new, expanded edition of Dear Church in early 2014.

Amidst all the writing, Sarah became an idea junkie and freelance consultant to several mainstream Christian events. She also earned her Masters in Educational Leadership, none of which resulted in additional respect from her manic Jack Russell terrier, Wrigley. She and her husband currently live in southeast Michigan where Sarah serves as chief servant to the Emperor Justus (her 3 year old) and his chief of staff, Malachi (their 3 month old).

Sarah has contributed to Christian resources such as Relevant Magazine, Catalyst Publications and q ideas. 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.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 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

Format: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. Read more ›

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

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Review of Picking Dandelions July 29, 2010

By Doug Young

Format:Paperback

The following is a review of Picking Dandelions by Sarah Cunningham from my personal blog...[...]

I hadn't felt like I'd traveled backwards in time, and spent moments with someone I didn't know, like this since I read Donald Miller's, Blue Like Jazz. I'm serious. No hyperbole here. Sarah Cunningham's, Picking Dandelions: A Search for Eden Among Life's Weeds did that for me.

Do you know the feeling of seeing something you know you shouldn't have? Remember catching mom wrapping Christmas presents and then stashing them away? You saw something you shouldn't have, but seeing it opened you up to things as they really were. That's the feeling I've derived after reading Picking Dandelion's. She led me into her world- a world I should not and would not have seen otherwise- to find the truth behind the story that's been hidden behind the veil for quite some time.

One can't help but look at the world around him and think: "Something's not right about all of this." And one would be right. Things simply aren't as they ought to be. And yet we pant and search and claw and pursue the thing to make it all right. Often, we are searching for the right thing in all the wrong places.

Part I begins with Sarah's childhood. I was drawn into her experiences, seeing them open up, unfold and eventually shut. It makes you wonder if the Christianity we teach our children is something that will endure for the long haul. Are there too many holes? Too many voids? Could we be setting them up for major disappointment?

Looking back with the benefit of hindsight, I really wish I couldn't empathize with her, but I do, and altogether too often at that. Where we are different is that she began picking up on much of it early on.... As one who sat in on church business meetings at age 10, she took note of the things that were out of sorts. See saw the good, the bad, and the ugly. Gotta love this line: "It was clear, even to ten-year-old me, that a non-brown shingle would never be allowed to touch the church roof. If it came down to it, elderly men would lie down in front of bulldozers and choir women would chain themselves to the eaves." This is so typical, but the last sentence of the chapter says it all. After the votes were taken and brown shingles "won by a landslide...we breathed a sigh of relief. Once again we'd narrowly escaped change."

Part II takes us from adolescence to teenage Sarah. These days offered her new challenges. As most of us can somehow relate, it is the teenage years that cause us to begin to see ourselves in light of how others see us. It constitutes the beginning of a devilish trap that is immensely difficult to escape. And some never do. Identities are being formed and good direction always seems lacking.

Part III takes us into Sarah's college years, where nothing is easy. But Sarah seemed to see and experience things that created unrest and discontent, but it really didn't take her in the direction it took some of us. It seemed to do the opposite. Mission trips afforded her opportunities to see what she hadn't before. I love the last paragraph of Chapter 2. A trip to Chicago left this impression upon her,

The thing that nagged my soul was knowing that some days the warming shelter was too full and we had to turn people away. The people would nod unsurprisingly when we told them to come back later, and they would shuffle away, down the snow-covered road and past the colossal empty churches that ten people attended once a week on Sundays when they made their weekly drive into the city from the suburbs.

More experiences, and eventually marriage, would make for more personal transition. One thing, though, was certain... she was forced to adjust. And that isn't always easy.

Part IV introduces how the events of 9/11 changed so many things for so many people. Like many of us, one couldn't help but wonder where God was in the midst of it all.

Part V begins with how a scoliosis prognosis would affect her, but the physical issues she experienced were simply a means for her to begin speaking to spiritual ailments that were really in view. These ailments had only one solution...Confession. Her confession? It was simple..."I hate. I hate, I hate, I hate."

The remaining parts (VI-IX) are startling realizations about faith and how change happens in one's life. Her testimony is as compelling a testimony there is, outside of Scripture itself. She lays it out there with potent transparency. Her flaws were many and all needed to be addressed. And she addresses them.

This is God's great reconciliation project, and all who are willing may participate. It's not the funnest project in the world, by any means. But in Christ Jesus, God is reconciling the world back to himself (2 Corinthians 5:19). He is in passionate pursuit of us, God help us that we are equally as passionate in our pursuit of Him.

This, I believe, is to a large extent the gist of Picking Dandelions. Things simply aren't always as they seem. People, well-intentioned people, did what they believed to be right in expressing to my generation how things are and how they ought to be. But being well-intentioned doesn't make it right. The voids that were left in many of us were in need of being filled, and they would be or will be, in due time. And so we search. We search for Eden among life's weeds.

The weeds are plenteous, but God sees us through them and we can find Him in their midst. He sees us in our pursuit of Him and he reveals the beauties of what was lost at the fall (Genesis 3) by giving us tastes of His grace. And grace is always sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9). It keeps us sifting and searching for the real things that matter most. Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A good story of balanced faith July 26, 2010

By Tim McGeary

Format:Paperback

"Pushing Dandelions: A Search for Eden Among Life's Weeds" is a memoir of Sarah Cunningham, who has previously published a book called "Dear Church: Letters from a Disillusioned Generation." Ever since reading "Dear Church", I've wanted to read more from Sarah because I connected so much with her first book. And I guess I was hoping to find out more of the story behind that book.

But that isn't what I found in reading "Picking Dandelions." Instead I found a story, still similar to mine, but divergent enough to keep me interested without throwing myself completely into a "yup, that's me, too"' type of self-help mindset that I've done with other people's memoirs. This is a very good thing, in case that isn't clear, because it requires me not to check out of my own story while taking in someone else's.

For some reason the intro and first chapter were very slow for me, but after that, the pace picked up very quickly. Where I really homed in are the chapters on Sarah's assisting efforts at Ground Zero after 9-11. Part of this is because I had just watched the movie "Reign Over Me" and part because it is such a seminal moment in our generation's history, but I was gripped by this section of Sarah's story. What I appreciated most is the comparison of the recovery and support effort to be an incarnation of real community and church: loving neighbor over ourselves. I tire so easily with church being our own patting ourselves on the back at church or being inward focused that I long for a more permanent outward focus like that, though not necessarily needing to be that extreme.

And other examples exist in other stories Sarah tells, about teaching experiences, her chance to lead in ministry at a church, or making up a blues diddy at a homeless shelter.... Sarah maintains an easiness about her story that pulls you in, yet disarms your own storied conceptions to listen intently to her's.

I definitely recommend Picking Dandelions, and hope Sarah has another book project coming soon. Read more ›