Anieta Hopper / Finance Manager

The last few weeks we’ve been clearing the brush along the drainage ditch that runs through our acreage. It’s been left untended for many years which made for a big job. As we took down brush and trees we made many discoveries. There were some very healthy plants in there, deep rooted vines that were choking the life out of everything they climbed. There was also poison ivy which my husband only has to look at to break out in a rash. The soil was piled up along the bank of the ditch defeating its purpose: drainage of the land. Where the ditch runs into the abandoned railroad track next to our property, we uncovered “Adventure Island”, which I envisioned as a place of imagination, creativity and fun for the grandchildren. For me that made all the hard work worth the effort.

The purpose of the ditch ultimately is that the land will be productive. When it’s plugged up or impeded it cannot do its job. Just so in our spiritual lives, the Spirit wants to clear the clutter so He can flow freely through and render our lives fruitful and productive. Sometime it’s hard work, maybe even painful, as He exposes the overgrowth and begins to clear it out. Sometimes it’s exciting as we discover wonderful new places of adventure in our journey with Him. Sometimes we have to be completely stripped, reworked and seeded with an entirely new crop. Whatever the process, surrendering to the Spirit’s working is always the best option.

We can be “confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)