There are these times, the Lord asks us to wait. A year before I felt the call to start Food + Grace, I prayed on what I could do to help. I have two little kids that need tending to, but other than that, I have laundry and a whole day to offer help, volunteer, and just generally do something. The Lord? He told me I was already doing something, and there was more, but please, for now, wait.

For someone who likes to check things off lists, this is (still) a learning curve. But I've learned, He sometimes needs someone else's heart to align, or something else to fall into place, so even though I'm ready to jump, He needs that other piece of the puzzle to get on board, too. Because He is relationship. We need each other. Although sometimes, that person who thinks they're all the way ready, but still needs to grow, be challenged, and prove herself faithful? Has been the one looking at herself in the mirror.

The vision for Food + Grace began as a kitchen. Make a bigger table. Invite everyone who needs food. Laugh. Share stories. Help. Support. Listen. And bring it all together with food that is nutrient dense and grown right on the same property.

Tall order.

I got tangled up in red tape for a long time, felt like I was hitting my head on the wall. Repeatedly. The money isn't there, the support isn't there, the land isn't there, nothing. Nada. Zilch. And I couldn't get city people to call me back. Red tape. Closed doors. Person after person kept offering us land to help grow crops. And we kept putting a pin in it, focusing on how to get the kitchen started.

Then, my husband and I saw a movie. He stopped on the way out, and I exited the building and sat on some steps. Just looking around. Feeling the breeze on my face. The sunlight. And I thought, "we start with the food". And I knew it as truth. When my husband came out of the doors and sat down beside me, I didn't say anything. I was busy trying to figure out what we do with the food we grow if we don't have a kitchen to put it into. Sometimes we only get a small piece of truth at a time.

As we sat there quietly, he looked out into the distance and said, "We're going to have a farm, aren't we?" And the Spirit got us both on the same page, at the same time, without either of us talking to each other. Magic.

We considered bigger property, borrowing land, in essence, but "start small" kept ringing more truth to us. So, we sacrificed our property. Moved things around. Killed some grass. Maybe a lot of grass. And started. There was no red tape. No barriers. Finances were in line, the money was there. Nothing was in the way.

After spending the first $498 of donations for raised bed structures and dirt and all the things we needed to get this going, I had a thought about how much money that was, and it's going into dirt, not food, and how many pints of blueberries that could buy, and blah blah blah, I spiraled. I was having an incredibly human moment. I prayed for God's comfort, and peace, and just to know that He's behind this. That night, I was opening the mail. I came to an envelope I didn't recognize, opened it, and there was a $500 donation inside. Felt like provision. Felt like we were being kept on track.

As we move and pray, have gotten more involved, and started really looking to see what was being offered here, we started seeing some of the pieces of the puzzle coming together on the original vision for Food + Grace. Often praying for direction, we are now wondering if the kitchen was what we should carry out, or if it was given to us as a means to get us started. A light. As if we saw something bigger and then the Lord then said "okay, but here's the part I want you to do."

We'd love to grow this into a big community garden. Or, come together as a community of people growing food instead of grass, and be able to supply more and more food pantries with fresh nutrient rich produce. Many people in poverty suffer from diabetes and other illnesses we can help fight with good food. Our food pantries are outstanding, we'd just like to come along side them and help offer things that aren't ordinarily offered.

We can see this part go in multiple directions. So, we keep praying. Planting more plants. Offering them to our food pantries.

Because when we're still waiting on God for the big things, we get our hands dirty and serve.

WHILE WE WAIT, WE SERVE.