Monday was an exciting day for us!  We met with the Sagebrook construction manager, Vince, and went over the details for our new home. And, they have officially broken ground on our lot!

I’ve been thinking a good bit about the idea of breaking ground.  This is an exciting moment for us, but sometimes, breaking the ground of our hearts has been something altogether different.  That’s not always been as welcome or exciting.

It’s necessary to dig past the surface and remove the extraneous to make room for what’s new. Ground has to be broken for foundations to be poured, for seeds to be planted, and for new and exciting adventures. It’s a difficult and dirty process that can lead to something amazing.

The scriptures make this correlation to our hearts and soil in Matthew 13:

Matthew 13 English Standard Version (ESV)

The Parable of the Sower

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.² And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. ³ And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵ Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, ⁶ but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. ⁷ Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸ Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹ He who has ears,^a]”>[a] let him hear.”

The parable above deals with how our hearts reject or receive God’s Word and Truth. We want our hearts to be that good soil that produces a worthy harvest. Our journey has been full of moments where our hearts have needed work, weeding, and breaking to make us ready for what God had for us next.

As we stand in the harvest of a marriage that’s such a gift and looking forward to our future in this next chapter, I wouldn’t trade any of it. It has grown us and shaped us in ways that may not have been possible had the road been easier.

For us, this is truly a time of having restored to us what we once thought was lost. We had many years of wondering what God would do to restore our hearts and fulfill His promises.  One of my favorite promises God makes to Israel is found in Joel:

Joel 2:25-27 English Standard Version (ESV)

²⁵ I will restore^a]”>[a] to you the years
    that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
    my great army, which I sent among you.
²⁶ “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
    and praise the name of the Lord your God,
    who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.
²⁷ You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
    and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.

The Lord has been more than faithful and given us far more than we deserve in giving us this life together.  We are grateful for it every day.  We are so excited to see what He has in store as we break ground in this new field!