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On the very first night we moved into our 100-year-old farmhouse, a torrential downpour came flooding in and filled our basement with about an inch of the water; the water had come up the drive through the garage-door below, and wept through the cinderblock wall. 

We knew it was an issue and almost immediately began assessing the causes. The biggest of which was an asphalt wheelchair ramp installed at the back door. This channelled the water right up against the house and created a sump. The water had nowhere to go but down until making a pond under earth and eventually seeped through the walls. After removing the ramp, I’ve spent months redirecting the flow when rain comes, digging up clay and creating inclines away from the house. Another major issue I found recently was the rubber seals around the garage door into the basement were eaten away from years of degradation.

Every time I thought I had it solved, another storm would roll in and I’d still have weeping in the basement. The amount has decreased by nearly a hundred-fold. But I want all of it dry in a storm, as anyone would, before I coat the basement in dry-lock and be done with it.

This last weekend, I was ruminating on what else it may need before the next storm and concluded that I need rocks. The clay just holds the water too much instead of pushing it along. But the last thing I wanted to do was spend money on rocks; no scratch that—the last thing I wanted to do was tell my wife we needed to spend a thousand dollars on rocks. Investing in two home renovations, a farm, and all our animals has waned our allotted budget, and rocks were never a part of the plan.

I relinquished to focus on the other things and wait for the next storm to concern myself with it again. I had more important things to do, such as demolishing the inside of the other house. 

Monday, I dedicated a few hours to tearing up the floors and their TWO-THOUSAND STAPLES!! in each room. There is nothing less-rewarding and more physically demanding than hunching over a piece of OSB and pulling an old rusty staple jammed between the baseboard and flooring, five hundred times in a row. 

I finished it up, felt decently accomplished, and determined to shower, read, write, and rest for the rest of the evening. As I walked across the lawn, I heard a peculiar crunching sound coming from the front; it piqued my interest, and I went to see what it may be. To my surprise, I had heard a car passing-by, driving over a mountain of rocks that had fallen off some large dump-truck taking the hairpin turn at Liberty and Black Oak.

I grinned and ran inside to get the kids, telling them to equip a pair of closed-toe shoes and get ready to work. In a few minutes, the four of us were at the corner with four shovels and a wheel-barrow, slowly but surely, filling the thing in the blazing-hot August sun. It took us several hours, and we were finely exhausting and thirsty by the end. We trucked eight full wheel-barrows up the hill and into our backyard; but we have a brand new rock garden around the back of the house, at about a twelve degree incline, to drive rain away. The cost, I estimate, would have cost us $1000.

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What we must learn—essential for our well-being—we can do things our way, or we can do things God’s way. And when we put our trust in Him, He will dump a blessing in your front yard. 

But this blessing may look like an absolute mess and road hazard to many passers-by. This blessing may cost you your time, rest, and effort. It may push you past your limits for the day; and it may require multiple people to come beside you and help. But in so doing, your children shall be blessed by it as well. This blessing will be work; this blessing will be ugly; this blessing will be an accident to someone, a hindrance to most, and the exact answer to you.

Essential; we must learn to be ready in season and out of season. Whether or not we are finished for the day, as Peter was ready to give up after fishing all night.

I could have ignored the peculiar sound and kept walking inside. Do not close your ears to what God is saying to you! 

I could have admitted exhaustion and given up for the day. And in so doing, my blessing would have no-doubt been reported and cleaned up by the county by the following day. 

Keep listening, believing, and be ready to work. 

That work was some of the most-rewarding physical work I’ve ever done. I can’t remember the last time I made $500/hour.

And finally. For two hours, our neighbors passed us by, waving, gawking, or bewildered. They saw a man and his three young children in the scorching sun cleaning up someone else’s mistake and making the road safe again. Your blessing, though it be hard, unfortunate, and unpredictable—if you are committed to getting dirty and exhausted—will act as a service to your community and spread the love of Christ. 

What else can I say, but—prepare for the rocks to roll and prepare yourself to work hard when they do, for a blessing is in the mess.

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