Cleaning out the junk

If you recall, last fall we moved to an old farmstead. We had been very busy finishing the inside of the house during the winter, and now we have started working outdoors on the property. There was an old farmhouse garage on site that had seen it's better days. The ceiling was falling in and I'm sure it had many stories to tell from the last 100 years

We had it burned down, and started work on cleaning up the site.  Hours were spent on cleaning up. First, the steel beams, metal pieces, and chunks of insulation had to be gathered. Then the ground had to be gone over with a magnet bar to lift hundreds of nails out of the ashes. I feel like no matter how many times I go over the site....I still find more nails. The weekend we worked on cleaning it up , I had so much quit in me.  I wanted to pack up and move back to town. I wanted the easy life of zero outdoor maintenance and food from a box. This road was hard. But something drew me on.....

After cleaning out the garage site, I started tilling the area around the old garage. History kept being dug out of the dirt. First I tilled the area, then I picked up all the junk brought to the surface. Bits of glass, a licence plate, insulation, and metal pieces were brought to the surface of the previously "clean site".  After raking it clean, it looked good again.  Until I used the magnet bar to pick up the hidden nails, bolts, and metal shards hiding at the surface. 

As I did that, I kept thinking of our women's Bible study lesson. In Ezra 9 and 10, the people are dealing with issues of repentance. Issues they would have rather stuffed under the rug. Repentance is messy labor intensive work. It's dirty and hard. But nothing of beauty will come unless we go through it. 

Seeking forgiveness isn't a one time clean up of the big sins/wrong doings in our lives.  Our lives might look pretty good after that. But just as with that old garage site, the Holy Spirit comes in with his 'tiller' and digs up everything underneath.  The junk from the past comes to the surface, things we never remembered were there. Then after we seek forgiveness, God comes back with his 'magnet bar' to clean out the small hidden sins there. 

You guys I hate cleaning things up. I hate sifting through ashes to find glass bits and metal wheels. I would much rather plant flower seeds. 

But I can't do the working of building, until the site is prepared. 

God wants to create things of beauty in our lives. He wants to build something new and use us to bless others in His kingdom. But it's not enough to look good. The strawberries, potatoes, and endless flowers I desire to grow will never thrive trying to wrap their roots around metal wheels, and hundreds of screws. No, the soil of our hearts must be cleaned out and the junk removed in order to make room for new life. 

If you could see this site through my eyes, you would see the fence line covered in flowers, a border of flowers and herbs along the 103 ft fence, and a strawberry bed planted next to a large garden area. I have soooooo many flower and vegetable seeds that I worry if I'll have room to plant them all!

God delights in restoration.  

As I looked at the junk being pulled out from below the surface, and looked forward in anticipation to how God wants to restore this piece of dirt into something beautiful......I just kept thinking.....

"Me too, Lord. Do this in me too."

Sojourning with you, 

Felicia