Prepare us oh Lord

This week started out very busy for us, cleaning up from the storm that hit middle Tennessee Friday night. Our power went out at 9:15 pm, and came back on at 5:15 the next morning. It snapped tree limbs and flooded our garden. There was lightning all night and loud thunder that shook the house. We got very little sleep that night.

Sabbath morning we went outside to see the damage from the storm. A little bird feeder I have had for years was broken, but fixable. The real damage was the garden. That night I had dreamed that the corn was all laying down in the garden, which is why I wanted to go and check things out that morning. And sure enough the corn was lying down. You could see where the water runoff from the mountain behind the house had made its way to the garden and flooded many of the garden beds. But the worst was the corn. My heart sunk a little till I looked carefully at the corn and saw that all the roots were still in the ground.

Vernon and I worked very quickly and started picking the corn up one by one and securing the soil around each and every one. I held the corn as Vernon secured the soil. We put stakes at each corner of the corn area and wrapped cord around the stakes and corn to help it stand tall. I am pleased to say that the corn is standing tall, and doing well.

We previously dug water ditches to catch the runoff from the mountain. That stopped a lot of damage. We realized we needed to make one area a little bigger so, that is what we have been doing this week. Digging more ditches and enlarging the ones we had dug already.

You know it is a funny thing. This year our garden was doing so well. We have worked so hard to get it just right. Our corn was better than last year’s corn. And all it took was one storm to cause damage. It’s just like the storms in our lives. Things are going so well and boom!, storms come and knock the power right out of us, flood us with an almost overwhelming flood, and knock us to the ground.

But Jesus is right there with His hand stretched out to grab our hand if we let Him, to pick us right up. He is ready to walk through the storm with us to the other side of the storm were the sun is shining and the grass is green.

As we have been preparing our garden for harvest time, Christ has been preparing place for us that will be ready at harvest time. One of my favorite Bible text is John 14: 1-3; Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Every week is busy on KTS farm, and you never know what will happen. We just try to be ready for whatever comes our way. We know that God is with us at every step. Our prayer every night before we close our eyes is “God watch over the farm, and give us the strength and know how to do the work. Prepare us for what will come”.

And He does just that!