Chris and I just returned from Europe last week, where he was speaking for a missions conference near Budapest, Hungary. I had a few surprises along the way.

• The French computer keyboard. I used a friend’s Apple computer, and had a hilarious time trying to type!
• A young Hungarian couple exclusively played traditional polka music at their wedding reception.
• The flight to Europe seemed short compared to my recent trips to Africa.

At the conference we had the joy of getting acquainted with church leaders from all over Western Europe. My friend Vicki from Switzerland shared with me this story:

A couple dreamed of beautiful roadsides in their community. Pulling a large portion of the money from their savings account, they invested in a great amount of poppy seeds and joyfully scattered them on each side of the road for miles. Eager to see the flowers crowding each side of the highway, they watched and waited, watched and waited. Years passed and not one poppy grew in the area they had planted. Assuming they had wasted their money and time, the couple was greatly disappointed.

Then one spring years later, they were driving along and could not believe their eyes. Beautiful red poppies graced each side of the road. When the conditions (temperature, moisture, and sunlight) were right, the seeds bloomed. The flowers were beautiful in their time. The couple saw the realization of their dream, and experienced the fullness of Proverbs 13:12, “Hope deferred makes the heart grow sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” And others also were blessed because of their work.

That story encourages me as I reflect on what I believe God laid on our hearts in 1998 to pray for Phoenix: revival. Though we did not see evidence of revival before we moved from Phoenix in 2003, I believe the answer to our prayers is now coming into full bloom. It is heart wrenching on so many levels to leave McKinney, but I have an overwhelming sense that God has given us this invitation to go back and see the fruit of what we helped sow in prayer fifteen years ago. I eagerly anticipate seeing the “poppies” in Arizona.

I wonder how many people have a God-given dream in their heart that they have become hopeless and heart-sick over. Or how many have allowed the busyness of life to put a dream on the back burner to the point that it is almost forgotten. I wonder how many would be bold enough to take that dream to God in prayer and ask Him what to do with it. “We are not called to be spectators watching from the stands as the prince of darkness goes about to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). Jesus said there is a shortage of workers, but the actual work will be done by God’s Spirit through you and me doing great things beyond our wildest imagination. It all begins when you offer yourself to serve.” (Spirit Rising, 188, Jim Cymbala).

I’m praying for fellow poppy planters. People that will invest their efforts in work that will reap an eternal harvest. May we pray the prophet Isaiah’s prayer: “Here am I Lord, send me!” (Isaiah 6:8).