Driving my school bus each day, I often find myself blinded by the sun when going to pick up one particular child. He is a special needs child, but he is also one of my best riders. One morning on my route, rather than being blinded by the sun, I found myself blessed with one of the most beautiful “Clouds with a silver lining” sunrises I have ever experience. I did my best to capture the image with my cell phone, but it is a cell phone. What struck me profoundly was not just the “Silver lining” but also the rays of light shining out from around the clouds. I began thinking about the children on my bus. Some of these children are considered, how shall I say, difficult to handle. I wonder if God does not sometimes consider us that way. The image of the cloud with the shafts of light streaming in every direction is an image of our discipleship. We are like the clouds. When we allow God to stream out of our lives, we are like clouds with silver linings letting God’s grace flow out of us and touching the world in every direction. This same idea comes to mind when I remember Jesus words, “5“A sower went out to sow his seed. As he was sowing, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the sky ate it up. 6Other seed fell on the rock; when it sprang up, it withered, since it lacked moisture. 7Other seed fell among thorns; the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. 8Still other seed fell on good ground; when it sprang up, it produced a crop: 100 times └what was sown┘.”” Mark 8:5-8 (HCSB). Exponential multiplication is clearly taught in the passage, but I believer there is much more for the church to learn here about discipleship. For now, the questions I would ask are, 1) are you a cloud that allows God to stream through, or a raging storm barring God’s life giving grace from reaching others, and 2) What type of soil are you, or have you been planted in? This last question is where we will be going next.