The Parable of the Big Red Barn

I have always loved the idea of living in the country. When I was a young girl, I loved to visit my grandparents who lived in Mexia, Texas. Small town, farm country. I loved that their mailbox was at the front of their yard, and I loved that it was an actual black metal mailbox! Not a huge silver box at the front of the neighborhood. At Granny's, the mailman actually walked from house to house. Imagine that! I loved the pecan trees that lined their yard, that people drove around in pickup trucks, and that over all, life just seemed simpler. I decided at a young age that country life was for me. So, you can imagine my delight when we drove out to interview at Mid Western and found that it sat on one hundred plus acres, surrounded by corn fields, smack in the middle of nowhere. My dream of living in the country was going to come true.

My favorite thing about the country has been the view. Now that I am responsible for feeding eight peoplethree meals a day, every single day, a large majority of my time is spent in the kitchen. There are many dishes to be washed! Thankfully, I have triple sinks, and above them sits a huge picture window with the most gorgeous view of the corn fields across the way. I never would have believed I could have found corn fields gorgeous, but I did. I loved to see the sunlight pouring over the stalks, turning them brilliant shades of gold. I loved peering out at the clear skies and all of the stars at night. I loved my view.

Therefore, you can imagine my disappointment when they started harvesting the corn last fall. I was sad they were taking away my view. I was worried that without the corn, it would simply be a huge, empty field. Each day the workers would harvest a bit more, and a bit more of my view would slip away. One Sunday morning we were leaving for church, and I knew that by the time we returned, all of the corn would be gone. My view would never be the same. I braced myself to see a huge, empty field as we returned home to our property. But look what I found instead!

















A beautiful big red barn! The corn had grown so high, that I never even knew this barn existed.

Isn't that the way it is with life? We get so comfortable with what we know, and we are afraid for things to change. We simply cannot imagine that our Heavenly Father might have something even more beautiful waiting for us, just beyond our view. The corn fields were gorgeous, but the barn is exquisite! What a beautiful reminder to not get so comfortable in life that we miss the bigger blessings just around the corner. Because you never know. Beyond the corn fields might be an exquisite big red barn! Waiting just for you.