Beautiful Dirt

The sun was beaming through the tall grasses on our lot yesterday. The dancing grasses hid the barren dirt below it that hasn't been touched in...forever.

I sat on the berm on the back of our property yesterday. I prayed over our small, but perfect piece of land. Prayed for our marriage, for our future children, for the safety of our house, for the existing pile of dirt, and for the single, purple flower marking the center of where our house will stand. I sat, contemplative, of what will come of this lonely, exposed patch of ground. Does it know what is expected of it? Does it know that it will serve as the American Dream for our family and other families after we leave it? Does it know how many parties it will host, gardens that will be sowed from it, or how many feet of little children will run across its lush grass?

Pride and thankfulness poured out of my heart yesterday afternoon as I looked upon our modest plot of paradise. Is this what Adam and Eve felt like in Eden? Pride for what my husband and I have been working for since we've been married. Thankfulness for what God has given us to take care of. This is what we're here for: to take care of His earth and give all the glory to Him. A flood of thoughts ran through my mind of how Bobby and I can dedicate this house to God. Our house: to be a shelter for those who are tired, to be a place of comfort and rest for our family, to be a glimpse of Heaven or a snapshot of Jesus for those who don't know Him...

I squeal in excitement as I run off the berm into, what will be, our new back yard. The grasses brush against my legs and my favorite flip flops begin to sink into the dirt. Normally, this would irritate me completely, but not this time. It was beautiful dirt and it has never felt so good between my toes because...it was OUR dirt. The dirt that we will hose off of our children when they are playing in our back yard. The dirt that we will use to sow our gardens. The dirt that will be the foundation for our new home.

Never have I been so sentimental about anything (except for our wedding, of course). But this is different. Seeing our home appear and gradually be built over the next few months just fills me with excitement - often resulting in a girlish squeal (just ask Bobby). I'm excited to share it with you over the next few months as we watch our dirt grow into something much, much bigger. Perhaps, something beautiful.

UPDATE: House NOT to start on May 18th as originally planned. Building permits have not been received from the county yet. We have been given another 2-3 weeks until ground breaking. Until then... whenever you come down to visit Bobby and I, this is what you will see as you drive down our street. Our house is going to the right (if you're looking at it) of the house under construction ALL the way at the end of the court, backing up to the woods. I can just see it now...