This is God’s Dream

God cares more about The Dandelion Club than I possibly can. He is more passionate about bringing people into a community than I could hope to be.

It’s His very nature, after all; He is Three in One, the Holy Trinity; He is for relationship. He created this broken world for us so that we could be in a relationship with Him and He cares for those who hurt, for those who are lonely. He wants there to be life-giving spaces where people can build each other up as a community.

This world that He has built is so large that RecruitMilitary.com reports that, as of 2022, there are 710,000 active-duty military spouses with over 90% of that number constituting women. The National Library of Medicine states that 50% of soldiers are married with 39% having children. RecruitMilitary’s report also states that 63% of military spouses are unemployed.

This data suggests that there is a very large demographic of stay-at-home moms. It also suggests that God is very capable of giving this dream to others among these 710,000 military spouses.

God is in the business of writing out all the days of our lives in His book. I believe He has written this endeavor onto my page, and that He has prepared me for seeing it forward. I have always had a passion for kids. I’ve served in nurseries and children’s ministries at church since I’d been old enough, and have worked at Christian summer camps for 15 years, including as Program Director. I brought to fruition a “Little Girl Camp” in that time, and I’ve consistently been a part of organizations aiming to serve a larger community.

Even my academic pursuits lend toward this preparedness. I hold a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and Bible, have participated in a New Church Start program lasting 6 months, and went on to receive my Master of Arts in Christian Ministries. My existing job experience also adds to my preparedness in connecting with youth in roles such as with Kentucky Christian University’s recruitment, leadership in a Christian summer camp, and serving Carnival Cruise Lines for four contracts as kid’s staff, Director for ages 12-14, and as their Entertainment Staff. I’ve also held positions within community ministries in addition to the children’s ministry positions I’ve held in churches.

During these pursuits, I wasn’t always entirely sure what God had in store for me. Still, I was confident in a few key elements being present, no matter where He would steer me:

Something pertaining to the nurturing of youth,
Opportunities to start new ministries within the military,
Fulfilling the call He has placed on my life to cultivate community

When my husband made the decision to leave ministry as a pastor and Reserves to become Active Duty, we both felt we were called to military ministry. Military ministry was just what I did at our first duty station, Fort Stewart, GA, -serving any way I could. Then when we moved to our current duty station, in the DC area, I felt a need to avoid launching immediately into volunteer and serving roles as I’m prone to do. It was a feeling my best friends edified and I had the sense I would launch a business to some degree.

As it turns out, when I realized the need for indoor play spaces in the Washington DC area, it was like God said, “I’ve equipped you to do this, so do it”. There had been a particular morning I’d spent realizing how well The Dandelion Club would fit into my life story and also dreaming of what it could one day be. It was as if all these puzzle pieces that God had been placing before me were starting to come together, and I could feel His presence so tangibly. I confided in a friend from church, and she told me God had placed me on her heart that very same morning. For me, it was confirmation.

There is also scripture after scripture that confirms that if your desires align with God’s, He will do it. It means that you’ve spent enough time to know His heart. God’s heart is for building community and giving good gifts to children, so this dream is within His character. I also had a timely sermon by Pastor Bill Johnson that come into my life. It deeply resonated with me, about how God gives dreams to His people and it’s time for us to step into them.

While finding my footing in how to start this endeavor, I contacted a friend and colleague whom I had the opportunity to connect with through the New Church Start training I’d participated in. He has himself started an Indoor Play Café, Little Arrows Play Café, in conjunction with a new church. He offered me sound advice to get started, but also told me how he is the Incubator and Training Director for Kingdom Dreams Initiative. Further, he’d been able to directly connect me with plans for strategy, coaching, planning, and pitching to investors. A second confirmation by my standards.

A third confirmation rests in the many introductions I’ve had with people who could serve in key roles within this project.

I pray about how this endeavor might connect to chapel ministries, seeing that it falls directly in line with the Chief of Chaplain’s vision to “invest in people, connect them in spirit, and cultivate community.” If you’d like to read more about the Chief of Chaplain’s vision, see the “Baby Steps” post.

While praying for a name to give this ambition, this dream, I realized that the dandelion is the flower of the military child. I love what it represents: being strong-rooted and able to be planted in all fifty states. I prayed on the name “The Dandelion Club” and, as I did, my friend Alyssa Cialkowski had gotten into casually sketching out dandelions. With her willingness, we could create the logo for this project. Another confirmation, and a beautiful work of art!

I’ve seen so much evidence of God throughout our Dandelion Club endeavor that I’m here to say I truly believe I’m walking in obedience to make this happen. He has shown me baby-step after baby-step, and He will see this out to the end. This is God’s dream- and I’m grateful I get to be a part of it.

For more evidence demonstrating that this project is a need, and God’s dream, I conducted a survey via Facebook and had 120 responses within 48 hours from military spouses with partners of various rankings.