Living Springs Offers Quiet Retreat
by Jim Elzerman

If you find yourself traveling on I-80 through Nevada and come to the exit for Fernley, get off the highway and make your way to the Living Springs Community Church (also known as the Fernley Free Methodist Church). There you can spend some time relaxing and enjoying God's creation in their peaceful Meditation Garden. Former pastor Gordon Dills pictured a meditation garden to replace the weed patch on a vacant lot on the church property the first time he walked across it. The vision became a reality in 1999 when Marilyn Martin, who now pastors Living Springs, set about building the garden. She shares this about the project: "I had converted my front lawn into a similar kind of garden and had asked the Lord for 'a new canvas' several months before he told me about it. It was a blessed experience to pray for direction and then see the Lord provide what we needed."

Pastor Marilyn Martin

Pastor Martin recounts how the Lord provides in a story she calls the "The Tractor Angel." The second load of dirt was dumped on the one corner I had just finished. I muttered, "Well, I guess I need maximum exercise, Lord" and went to work. I looked up 45 minutes later and saw a friend sitting on a little tractor. She said she had been cleaning out the rodeo pens and came to pick her daughter up from school. What was I doing, could she help? All I could say was, "Really?!" It took about 10 minutes for her to do the job. She offered the manure I needed, too!

The congregation at Living Springs sees the garden as an opportunity for witness. It sits next to a popular restaurant that caters to customers from around the country and many Nevadans plan to stop there when they are traveling through. Many of those regulars love to stretch their legs and enjoy the garden. It's especially nice after traveling hundreds of miles through desert. Some have given donations for the garden. There are Scriptures and messages on podiums throughout the garden to give glory to the Creator with messages such as forgiveness, peace, Psalm 23, etc., and there are benches to sit on and meditate on the beauty and messages.

Pastor Martin shares, "Occasionally I meet someone who tells me the messages in the garden were a real blessing to them. We believe the Lord wants our image in town to be 'The Garden Church' and we are gradually making more areas of our property to be areas for rest and meditation. We have started a small community garden area for those who need a place to grow vegetables, herbs or flowers. Eventually we would like to have a water feature beside the church building to match our name."

You can view more pictures of the garden and get directions to the Living Springs Church on their Web site: http://lscf.freemethodistchurch.org.