The Stages of a Vision

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” *

After our sewer line was dug up in the backyard, a big pile of clay, roots and rocks was left behind. Trying to find a landscaping company to come out and level the ground was a difficult task due to the delay in opening nurseries this year. One local landscaper told Al that he thought he might be able to come in a few weeks to look at our yard; however, he wouldn’t be able to do the actual work until August.

He had done some work for us previously, smoothing the ground and spreading bark before the workmen came to dig up the sewer line; so, we decided to hire him again. In the meantime, I had an idea. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a winding path from the driveway to our small patio? And how about putting pavers in one bare corner of the yard for a little prayer garden? It was only a city lot…not that big of a project?

 Soon my imagination began to work and I drew up a design. Stakes were hammered into the ground, with a few bruised knuckles along the way. Then twine was wrapped from stake to stake until the path and prayer garden were laid out.

Our dogs, outside most of the day, slowed the project by chewing on the stakes and breaking the string when running across the path chasing after something. They didn’t get the idea of staying inside the staked-out area. But at least it showed the general idea.

Not long after that, our local fellow contacted Al that he was having trouble finding workers and was so overloaded that he wouldn’t able to do the job for us at all. That was quite a setback. I wondered if my vision of a prayer garden at the end of a path would even happen.

It seemed possible that we would have to go back to the original plan to level out the yard and cover it with bark ourselves. Even that seemed like a big job, especially for someone who had just undergone shoulder surgery!

When Al asked friends from his men’s groups during their weekly zoom meetings, he received two recommendations for landscaping companies. We finally decided on the company that had big equipment and a couple of days free on their calendar in the middle of July to get the job done. After meeting with the owner, it seemed like the path and prayer garden might become a reality after all!

He encouraged us to pick out the pavers ahead of time.  So, Al and I went to a couple of large nurseries to see what was available. Being mid-summer, there wasn’t a large selection to choose from.  We ended up buying sixteen round pavers, reddish in color—not quite the same as what I had envisioned, but maybe…

 Later that day I cut circles from grocery bags identical to the pavers and laid them out on the ground where the garden was going to be. I discovered that they didn’t cover an oval area well. A cross shape seemed to work better. It was perfect for the prayer garden!

Next the pavers were stained with a color called “Giant Sequoia,” chosen in honor of the big trees in the Sequoia National Park, near our previous home in Springville. Things seemed to be falling into place.

Everything was ready for the workers when they arrived early one morning. With their hard work and the help of big equipment, the entire project was finished by the next afternoon: yard leveled, bark spread out evenly, gravel path around perimeter and the cross of pavers for the prayer garden.

 Seeing my vision become reality after months of waiting was amazing! It seemed like a very long process. However, during that time, God took an idea and shaped it into something different, something more in line with his purposes. And through that experience He also shaped me into a more patient person…one more dependent upon His Spirit for guidance.

So, if your vision seems like it is dead or dying, take heart. Perhaps it needs to go through many stages…and maybe you do too! But you can be sure that the end result will be fantastic!

*Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV