Hi Cove Church, my name is Becca Stutzman, I’m the MOPS and MOMSNext Leader and just wanted to share something with you today. I’m actually coming to you from our backyard because it has a little bit of a story for me. This summer, my husband and I, in the early spring, started talking about some ways that we could rework our yard. One of those ideas that we had was to actually have someone take out some of the existing yard, which was well established, in good order, and pour some concrete over that and it would just give us some more space in the backyard. It would create an opportunity for the girls to have a summer pool.
So we went for it, but after they came out and poured the concrete, it looked amazing, and we were left with a couple of problems. Number one, was that we learned that our yard had a gentle slope to it, so when they dug out and flattened out the ground to lay the concrete, we were left with a couple of inch drop off. We learned then that we were going to have to rework the grass that was left. And then the other problem that we didn't expect was that some of the sprinklers didn’t get capped all the way, so when we first turned them back on after having the concrete poured, we had a huge water mess. This resulted in my husband digging holes around our yard, trying to find the areas that needed to still be capped. And then to top it all off, we ended up digging a trench and then it all just kind of sat for a couple weeks while we waited for an irrigation specialist to come and help us. We also had a house painting project too. So at one point I remember just looking at our yard and there was paint everywhere, there was dead grass, there were holes, this trench, boards covering up some of that. And I was thinking about a couple of different things. One was that house projects are ALWAYS always more than what you think they are going to be. And then the other thought that I had was, “Why did we do this?” Our yard was working for us, we didn’t ask for all of this extra work and for things to be so unsettled and disorganized in our backyard. That wasn’t really what our goal was when we thought about pouring that concrete.
It struck me at that moment, that sometimes our lives are like that. Things are going well and then something happens and suddenly we've got holes, we've got paint, we've got dead grass and we’re just like “What is going on? Why do I have this mess? What’s the purpose for it?” I’m actually reminded in the Bible, John 15, Jesus talks about how he is the vine and we are the branches and he prunes us. So sometimes there is pruning, there's changes that God is trying to bring about in our lives so that we can be repurposed and used in a different way for him. And then sometimes things happen and are thrown our way, but those also cause us to change and grow in different ways as well.
The thing that was really encouraging to me was, as I looked around our yard, as I saw the big mess, I knew without a doubt that that yard would be put in order. It was going to take more time, it was going to cost more money and there was definitely going to be a lot more work involved, but I knew with certainty that it would be put back in order. You might ask why? Well that's because I know my husband very well. And my husband, it's a hobby, it's a pleasure for him to take care of our yard. It's really important to him that it's in good order. So I knew that he would work really really hard to put everything back in place. And I did help him. He did a lot of the work, but I did help him.
So when I think about our lives and I think about God, the thing that was challenging, encouraging, and convicting all at the same time for me, was that if I can trust my husband with our backyard, how much more can I trust God with my life and that he will make sense of the mess, that he's got a plan and a purpose and that even though it feels like things are rough, and things are unsettled, and it’s not making sense, that he can put those pieces back together. Philippians 1:6 actually says, “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion,” and I just want to encourage you with that today.
Our yard did get put back together! We’re super excited. We've been able to enjoy it this summer. I just want that to be a reminder for whatever you might be walking through today. God is still at work, he's making sense of the mess and he will bring it to completion. So take care and have a good day!