Ministry in the Church is a bit like growing a garden: loose soil is ripe for planting, hardened and dry soil is tilled, watered, fed. Plants grow, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. Often plants sprout, unplanned, in unexpected places. Every plant is dormant for a season, drawing resources deep from the earth and getting ready for spring growth. And every plant is fed by what grew before it, plants that die become compost that is essential for new growth.