Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Unexpected Blessings.....

Last weekend has been one of the most memorable in a long time. With all of the planning coming up, things seem to be at times, overwhelming, to say the least. We are expanding our CSA's, adding two more fields into production, adding more broilers (meat chickens) to the mix next year, adding more turkeys, starting up an aquaponics system and lamb season(Feb.) is right around the corner. Just when we get a little down or overwhelmed by the tasks ahead, God seems to remind us why we are here.


Saturday, after having spent a wonderful time with the volunteers who helped out with paddock moves and moving the brooder beast, we attended a dinner put on by a wonderful organization called Bridging the Gap. A friend of ours, Pastor Tim Coleman, invited us to this dinner which was a celebration/thank you for the impact made feeding people in poverished communities near downtown Newnan. This is what Pastor Tim Coleman and his wife Nicole's street ministry is a part of and where we contribute our vegetables and eggs.

The event was amazing. Alison Wallace, who runs Bridging the Gap, put on a beautiful event with a live band, lead by her husband, and a delicious meal. After talking with friends for a while, Tim showed us the table we were going to sit at and as another couple arrived, he asked if we could move down two seats. This allowed us to talk to a couple we'd know but never got to spend much time with before tonight. We talked about the mission of 180 and some of the trials coming up. God apparently seeded in their heart to donate to one of our bigger expenses coming up. Nicole and I were shocked and humbled to say the least. So looking back, moving down was a tremendous blessing.

The next morning at church, Nicole was heading out the door when she was handed a thank you card. It was from our Nutrition and Food Awareness class. The "students" had given us a gift certificate to a seed company we use for almost all of our seed purchases. What a blessing! Nicole and I felt extremely overwhelmed - but this time in a good way. I don't know if a "Thank You" is enough to cover it in either case.

Need Prayer For Tonight....

Again, we are back for another hearing with the zoning board. Originally, we thought our buildings were approved because they made us submit several revisions to our conceptual plan to include various setbacks. Now, we have to ask for a variance from our lake, which we now know is a protected Georgia water way, even though it is manmade. The setback from the lake is set at 150 ft. The other variance is to encroach on to the setback of our neighbor’s property that is at 100ft. Together they make a superpower setback that, as it stands right now, will not allow us to place our building on our property. Hence the reason for going through all of this.....again! Please ask for God's favor tonight as we start this process.

Matthew 6:7-8 7"And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."

No comments:

Post a Comment