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A broken piece of land stretched across the ravaged field and up along the gently sloping terrain. Rusted bales of barbed wire, twisted fragments of tin roofing, worn rubber tires, bits and pieces of metal, nails and screws littered the landscape. Partially standing outbuildings dotted the hillside and a pre-fabricated house clearly exhibited signs of its raccoon inhabitants. This property was neglected, abused, and forgotten.
My husband cast a sideways glance my way, hoping to avoid the realtor’s eye. I shook my head. Reluctantly, we both returned to the car to don our hiking boots for a trek across the 80 acre tract. We’d driven 150 miles to see this property; we might as well take a closer look.
Leaving the realtor behind, we set off to inspect the site and buildings more thoroughly. Hiking through the woods and across the pastures revealed worn horse paths and countless artifacts from a once productive farm. Buildings and sheds sagged under their weight of shameless neglect—begging us to put them out of their misery. It was a pitiful sight. The lifeless winter landscape only extenuated the bleakness.
We silently returned to our car, thanking the realtor for his time and drove home. Inexplicably, though, there was something drawing us to this piece of property. Over several months’ time, no other opportunities presented themselves and we found ourselves negotiating for the purchase of this property given it received a thorough clean-up.
Now, five years later the destitute farm is free of its once burdensome encumbrances. The outbuildings and rusted implements are replaced with a new barn and shiny blue tractor. Our new home graces the lower fields affording us a panoramic view of the verdant valley to the east.
However, most surprisingly of all, this land shares its bounty with our family. Each Spring in our new home is like a treasure hunt fulfilled. The hillsides are filled with prairie flowers and lilac bushes. Colorful beds of iris, roses and daylilies surround our house. Patches of our favorite vegetable—asparagus—await our discovery. And luscious trees overflow with peaches, cherries, apples, and apricots ready for the harvest! How wrong we were about this land. God blessed us—taking what we saw as lifeless and transforming it before our very eyes. He breathed prosperity back into this farm just as he breathed faith into our unbelief.
And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither and in whatever he does, he prospers. Psalms 1:3 (NASB)
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