Picking Dandelions: the Interview

I have a friend named Sarah Raymond Cunningham. I met Sarah about 9 years ago as students on the campus of Spring Arbor University (then College). I've always admired Sarah, she has an obvious passion for her faith and for living that out in real ways to impact people. A few years ago Sarah wrote a book titled “Dear Church” in effort to raise here voice about what she felt the church was missing, a church she loves dearly and wants to see meet the challenges of a new era of faith and culture.

Sarah just released a new book, “Picking Dandelions”, a personal story about her own faith and the path upon which she is being led.



Before I give you my take on the book, I asked Sarah a few questions to help you, dear readers, to get to know her better. You should read it because it's my best interview on this blog:

1. Thanks for sharing your time the readers of The Best 3 Minutes. What are the best 3 minutes of your day?

During a snow, it'd be the three minutes it takes for the news to get around to announcing the school where I work is closed. Don't get me wrong. I like my job, but few people in their right minds would turn down a free day off.

My all-time favorite minutes (in any weather) are the minutes when Justus (my ten month old son) erupts in hysterical laughter over something simple. It happens like ten times a day. Its awesome to witness someone enjoying life at that level.


2. We met back to SAU and as your friend I was interested in your book, why would someone who doesn't know you want to read this book?

A. If they are avid readers, they might get into it as a piece of literature. Its a collection of stories. Some of them are funny; almost all of them are quirky. Its a pretty easy read.

B. If they are non-perfect humans (as opposed to the perfect kind), they might relate to my plight in life--to see faith as something that prompts me to grow through my ever-present flaws and dysfunction.

C. They might pick it up just so they can claim they read a book by someone who went to school with the infamous Alex Teal.


3. What's the deal...are dandelions a simple, misunderstood flower or an invasive weed?

Haha. I think that it depends on a person's perspective. You can see a dandelion and think, I hate this weed. Its ruining my landscaping. While another person (often a little person) can see the exact same plant and pick it and give it to their mom with a sense of pride.

I identify with the dandelion that way. Its a bright, intense flower that brings wonder to children who blow its feathers into the air, but in the end, it has some characteristics of a weed. I can be the same way, intense, energetic, trying to nurture love all around me, but in the end, I'm still very marked by my own weaknesses. The great thing is, in the light of Eden, even the dandelions end up looking pretty snazzy. :)


4. Picking Dandelions is written as a memoir, but aren't memoirs reserved for old people? Why write one now?

I think memoirs used to be seen that way--as something that 80 year olds wrote in the last years of their life. Or as celebrity tell-alls about adventures in Hollywood. But in the last five, or even ten years, memoirs have grown into a larger genre of books that are just "based in someone's personal observations". Hopefully all of us, especially those who follow God, are living ongoing stories that constantly teach us things worth sharing in every stage of life. Writing is my way to bring what God is stirring in me to expression.


5. In your book, one of the key steps to initiate change in your own life was to ask people about your weaknesses. How did you get people to open up about the hard to hear truth rather than just tell you some mild bad habits?

Great question. For some people, asking them to speak to you honestly about your flaws goes against everything they've been taught. They feel like its better to shield people from truths that could offend them. But in my case, I've got a lot of like-minded friends who were raised to VALUE the people who care enough about them to help them walk through their weaknesses to a better experience.

The important factor of course is love. And at some level, shared values. If you don't agree about a basic standard of what is right and wrong, what is healthy or skewed, noble or hurtful, you might generate more friction than growth.


6. I love funny commercials, any commercials out there that you like?

There are a lot of them. I tend to like the subtly funny ones like this one--http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4gsLVjI9jY-- rather than the outlandish singing animals kind of thing.