As I was updating the Berry Farm website this morning, I was overwhelmed by all that God has done there over the past five years. What started as a simple idea to purchase a little plot of land led to a vision for a blueberry farm {a huge surprise at the time}. I remember the way Dave described the idea for me and how struck I was by the intention and thought that went into this completely foreign idea of becoming blueberry farmers.

I asked Dave, “why blueberries?“
I half-expected a simple answer about how we loved the fruit. Instead, he said this: “Blueberries are a crop that will yield fruit over a long period of time. If you nurture them and properly care for them, the investment will span decades. Just the way we are investing in the lives of the children in our program. We aren’t looking to solve long-stemming issues of hunger and poverty with a short-term investment. We are committed to the long-haul with these kids. We want to sow seeds of truth and righteousness and love. The fruit that will result will be long-lasting: eternal. “

We knew we wanted the farm to benefit our orphan-care program overseas, yet God had plans beyond our human-limiting dreams. We thought our farm would fund a small feeding program. Instead, God created a partnership and friendship across an ocean with our now dearly loved friends, John and Orpah Chinyowa. As we planted our fields in the spring of 2015, we had no way of knowing that John had dreamt for years of a farm training program for the older kids he cared for at Musha WeVana Children’s Home in Zimbabwe.

I remember walking the fields as a family every evening after dinner for months and months, praying over the soil and the land. We prayed for God to use the space for His Glory. During those prayer walks, I became aware of the call to create a Gathering Place. I prayed for God to draw people there.

At the time, we were knee-deep in irrigation plans and soil tests. We had no way of knowing that over the course of four years, we would gather hundreds of families to pick blueberries, we would host fundraising dinners for our partners at Help One Now, we would welcome our Zimbabwean friends to the farm and walk the fields alongside them. We had no way of knowing the dream of one man in Zimbabwe would be realized because of our little plot of land. We had no way of knowing weddings would be celebrated and new lives would be embarked upon on that very special soil. We had no way of knowing we would host Barn Church, a simplistic, holy gathering of believers who are exhausted from the typical confines of American Christianity.

We have simply obeyed, even when it made absolutely no sense. We listened to the call to purchase the land. We listened to the very, very unexpected call to plant blueberry plants. We listened to the call to invite families in our community in to pick the berries. We listened to the call to renovate the working barn. We listened to the call to move a house alongside the fields and are currently renovating it without fully understanding how it will be used. We keep listening to the one thing in front of us.

I’m currently studying the life of Noah and can’t help but notice the pattern of leaning in to a very absurd call on your life {he had never even seen rain yet he obeyed in the building of an ark to withstand a flood – how very outrageous it all must have seemed}. Four times in the span of two chapters, it says he did exactly as God commanded him. However illogical, he obeyed. He likely didn’t fully understand all God was asking of him. Yet, he obeyed anyway.

Please don’t misunderstand – I’m in no way comparing Dave or I to the great Biblical figure, Noah. I’m simply struck by the pattern of God working in the lives of ordinary people in ways we may not understand or comprehend at the time. Ways that potentially have ripple effects for generations in our family lineage to come. Oh, how I pray my kiddos will learn to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading even when it makes no sense and that they will learn the joy of living with open hands because of our example. I pray our work at the farm will teach them to live generously with their time and talents and resources. I pray the farm will teach them that no matter where we live or what we look like or what language we speak, we are all created in God’s image and we are all of indescribable worth.

Please hear my heart here, I am simply reflecting on an unexpected, incredible adventure God called our family to. I’m not sharing for any other reason than to remember out of gratitude and to encourage you to embark on your own ludicrous, illogical journey.

…”Life is like that, twisty and surprising. But life with God is like that exponentially. We can dig in, make plans, write in stone, pretend we’re not listening, but the voice of God has a way of being heard. It seeps in like smoke even when we’ve barred the door, and it moves us, to different countries and emotional territories and ways of living. It keeps us moving and dancing and watching. And with the surprises comes great hope.” – Shauna Niequest

May we all keep moving and dancing and embracing the surprises with great, great hope.