This review is part of the Picking Dandelions blog tour. Welcome, tour guests! To find out where the tour stops next, visit sarahcunningham.org.

Picking DandelionsSarah Cunningham almost made me believe I was right there with her, on her “search for Eden among life’s weeds.” Cunningham has a gift for detail and for storytelling, which makes this book a joy to read.

Picking Dandelions is a memoir of conversion, not just as a one-time event, but as a growth process throughout life. Much of Cunningham’s story was familiar to me. I grew up Catholic, and she grew up a Baptist, but as people who grew up inside the Christian faith, we did have similar experiences, like attending Backyard Bible Clubs where some of the kids would raise their hands every day when asked if they wanted to ask Jesus into their hearts!

Cunningham describes her near-idyllic childhood, briefly covers her high school and college years, and moves on to her twenties, when she became outreach director of a megachurch and led a ministry team to New York immediately after 9-11. And then she writes about change.

It took me at least twenty-eight years to realize that faith should involved ongoing change. And another year to get around to changing.

Cunningham comes across as a real and likable person, with human flaws (which she discusses at length, because one of her flaws is over-thinking things. ;-)).

I’d recommend this book for anyone who enjoys spiritual memoirs, but also anyone who’s interested in a relational, missional Christianity.

Sarah Raymond Cunningham is a high school teacher, part-time college prof, and chief servant to the nine month emperor Justus. She is a popular church and conference speaker, the author of Dear Church, and a contributor to several books, including unChristian. Sarah, her husband, Chuck, and their son live with their manic Jack Russell terrier in Jackson, Michigan. They attend a church plant called Rivertree. Find out more at www.sarahcunningham.org.

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Disclosures: I received a free copy of the book in exchange for this review. Thank you, Sarah! And I do receive a small commission if you purchase through any of the Amazon links above. Thanks for supporting this site.