Wow, it’s been a long time. Our house is looking more like a home, the fences are beginning to look respectable, and we even have cattle munching on the grass. We are living what we hoped for, prayed for, and dreamed about.

Some days we are tired though. It’s a lot of work and there is work off the ranch too. However, the vision fuels us. Have you ever had that? You know something is hard work, but you have to keep going because you know what it could be…

Sometimes the energy needed to fulfill the dream begins to fade. We’ve encountered setbacks. We have the local plumber on speed dial–we might even be on his. Animals have gotten out of fences, things haven’t gone as planned. It has taken more than we imagined. BUT YET… when you are in the process of restoration–of anything–it takes work and things will need repair! The repairing is part of the process that brings you to a place of seeing something for what it truly is–it’s original design. The fields weren’t meant to be filled with noxious weeds, they once carried grass. The house wasn’t meant to be cold because there wasn’t any insulation, it was meant to protect from the temperatures. So we too are discovering more of who we are. We truly are land stewards, ranchers, even though the land we are stewarding is still in process.

Restoration is a process and process means time.

Sure, I’d like to have it all done right away. That’d be easy. But then I wouldn’t get to pick the colors on my walls. Or stick my hands in freshly tilled dirt to plant seeds. Or watch as a fence changes from embarrassing to functional. I get to be a blessing to this place.

You do too. You have an opportunity to affect your surroundings with the vision you see of what might be… Keep going!