The Yard & the T-Blakes

I'm not an "outdoor" guy in the the categories of outdoor, indoor, and indoor-outdoor. I'm an indoor guy. I really can't even juggle the scale somehow and consider myself an indoor-outdoor guy. Rumor on the street is that people over estimate themselves towards being more outdoor than they really are. Similar to how people overestimate themselves on how funny they really are. But when it comes to my outdoor lifestyle, I could go camping once every 15 years and not really feel like going again. Do people really think that it's more comfortable than a bed?

My exception is the yard ... I like the yard. It's very suburban of me I realize, and at times I feel like Hank Hill sitting in the back alley talking about the grass with his neighbors. I don't really enjoy talking grass though, it's just the working on it part that I like. I don't like messing with the flowers and bushes, but for some reason the yard is my domain. I like mowing and growing grass. I think it's because it's tangible, and the evidence of your work is right there. In our world of intangible ministry, that tangible yard outside is something to look out and ponder about what needs done. Then you do it ... and you can see it.

So all this spring, I invested in having a nice yard. I worked the land ... I planted the seed ... I fertilized ... I even laid down new dirt to help the seed not wash away. The laying of dirt was the time-consuming part. Not to mention the number of trips to the store to buy the dirt, and all the money invested. Then you have all the watering afterwards. But it was spring! It's the time of new birth and growth, so I went for it.

Apparently I should have asked somebody before doing all this work, as the time to plant grass seed is the fall. It's difficult to describe the let down, as that information was necessary about 6 months ago. I felt like a cave man who had from a hunting/gathering tribe, and then I decided to be the first generation to try agriculture by trial and error. It was as if the internet didn't exist, and I tried to pioneer grass growing all on my own.

With all that we've learned about the importance of the land, whether that be in our studies of transformation or regarding the land of Israel, my connection with the land is my grass. Irregardless (that was for Susan) I'm not a farmer, and I don't have any interest in being a farmer. So in order to connect with the land, God seems to have given me a desire to work on the grass.

I was taking it very seriously, and I was also thinking about the implications while I was out there working. I was considering this as my service to God, to make a space that was beautiful for Him to dwell. I was trying to create some ambiance, as Lauren loves to have, for all those who come to our house throughout the week. It was me taking care of the sanctuary.

So when I found out that my grass came up quickly, everything seemed to be working out. But the summer heat burned it off (especially since we were gone for three weeks, but the trip was to Israel so maybe there would be grace on that?). The roots weren't deep enough, and I remembered the parable of the sower and how difficult it must be for God to see us spring up quickly only to bail out later on.

It's fall now, and the "official" time to work on the grass is upon us. But the P-Blakes found themselves lacking in finances for grass after my spring investment fiasco. This was really disappointing, as now I have to wait until the spring of 2010 to see the yard look half way decent. Granted, if I had taken that business opportunity that I recently blogged about, maybe the extra cash would be sitting around.

This brings in the T-Blakes, who bought extra seed and fertilizer. I think they may have done it on purpose, but I can't confirm that. But they decided to give it to us, so now as I type I've got the seed and fertilizer down again and the sprinkler is running.

So thanks T-Blakes. Gifts are low on my love language list, but for some reason this one was a big hit.

I'll let you know if it makes it through the winter.