I heard about a bamboo tree that was planted, cared for every day, watered, fertilized and protected… For about four years this went on daily, until one day, from the ground that had not even produced a small shoot, a tree emerged. That’s right, 4-years of constant care and nothing to show for it but dirt. Yet from that patch of dirt, at the end of the 5th year, a 90 foot tall tree appeared. Four years of nothing and in one year it’s 90 feet tall?
For us it’s been only months! I’ve been asked frequently “how’s it going up there?” To which I reply “really well” …. I feel like the bamboo farmer, planting, watering, fertilizing and caring for a patch of dirt that I hope one day to see growth on. The Lord is teaching me patience and some times I think, “Lord, can you just hurry up?” But I do see His mighty hand at work in our daily battles, blessings that come from only a God that cares.
Our fence line needs to be repaired, trees and tree tops, swamps and bushes. I can see remnants of what appears to be just years of neglecting a great area. Our focus is preparing for next years agricultural endeavors while moving ever forward to our other goals. My shop is a rainy day project that needs hours of sorting and putting away, as I have only been in survivor mode. It looks more like a dumping ground for miscellaneous “guy stuff”. But slowly as time goes on, I will water this patch of ground and fertilize it as needed, in hopes that one day I will see a 90 foot tall bamboo tree.
We have no shortage of projects. Projects of every type. I wonder if our neighbors drive by and think “why are they watering a patch of dirt, again? Seems like every time we drive by, they are watering a patch of dirt.” One day? Well, one day as the Lord sees fit.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers as winter starts to regain its firm grip, and projects outside will come to a pause and frost will again be our daily companion.