Eight Years

Eight years ago we purchased a ten acre parcel of former farmland immediately behind our church building. This week we planted over 60 trees on those 10 acres. For some people that might not seem like a big deal but for me it was historic. Over the course of these years we excavated almost the entire property for what will be a beautiful park and without the deep pockets of big business at times it seemed like we would never get there.

Eight years consisting of a lot of waiting mixed in with some major construction, but this past Monday (Victoria Day), just over 20 people showed up to pick more rocks and plant trees to complete this stage of the development. By the end of the day, we were down to a skeleton crew consisting mostly of young people (as in teens and kids). We probably looked like a pretty rag-tag group and for that reason it seemed almost surreal. Anyone happening by that didn’t know what was happening wouldn’t have given it much thought, just a handful of people planting something maybe. And then on Tuesday, Curtis finished dragging the whole property in preparation for seeding and then Art (our project manager) seeded out the entire acreage by himself manually. And that was it. Eight years of dreaming and praying, working and waiting. It’s going to be a mighty fine looking site.

The experience this week reminded me a little of the picture I have that was taken when we had the sod turning ceremony for Project ‘Make Room’ back in 1999. There weren’t a lot of people on site that day either, but it went on to be an extremely successful project. I’m very thankful to God for allowing me to see this week and participate in it.