Down the road from where I used to live, visible behind large trees and overgrown bushes, sat a small house of nondescript brown. Wood scraps, pieces of old machinery, and piles of rubbish adorned its dilapidation. Rotted fencing surrounded the property in front and stretched around fields in back. Crowning the general disrepair and falling-to-pieces state of the place, a huge old greyhound bus with its namesake dog still visible on the worn gray side sat smack in front of the whole mess.

One could imagine it originally as a small, neat farmhouse with chickens scratching around in the yard and flowers by the doorstep. My mind’s eye would see a scene from the 1940s with a young family trying to make a go of it on the small farm. The mother in an apron stands on the front step calling the children in for lunch. The father comes in from repairing fences in the pasture.

A For Sale sign hung dejectedly by the front gate. Then one day in late spring it disappeared. A red sports car appeared, as did two horses in the back pasture.  A young couple could be seen working around the place. Privately, I cheered these new neighbors as the cleaning and clearing and hauling off began. It was, to be sure, sheer hard work. Several outbuildings dotted the property and at times the doors stood open, revealing more junk. But, it was obvious that a pearl was being extracted from the rough, ugly shell of a place.

In the fall, it was newly roofed. The bus was moved round back. Painting began. The body of the house was coated in a soft buff color and trimmed in farmhouse red. Potted plants could be glimpsed through the beautiful front door inlaid with Victorian-style glass. A picnic table with umbrella and chairs sprouted in the back of the house.

The following spring a garden was planted in an area fronting the road. I liked the fact that it was planted in the middle of so much other pressing work. Here were people taking their time, doing not just what was necessary, but enjoyable as well. Cheerful rows of sunflowers grew quickly, nodding as I passed throughout the summer. A hammock was strung between two trees by the front gate. 

An old pickup appeared, parked in a recess of the front fence. MICHAEL & JILL’S VEGETABLE STAND declared the hand painted sign. Boxes of tomatoes, greens, lemon cucumbers, and early squash were invitingly displayed. A locked box with a slit was for payment – whatever you thought was fair.

A party was held the second summer. Soiree announced a hand painted sign. Lights were strung between high poles and merry-go-round horses were somehow mounted on top. Several weeks after the party, the strange horses on their poles were moved to the garden where they remain today, arching toward the sky amongst the corn.

The work has continued over the years. Yard sales are held periodically to weed out more machinery, mysterious metal parts, and odd pieces of furniture. But this little gem of a place has been worth it. 

I think about how God brings beauty out of so much neglect and disrepair. We may think that salvation is an instantaneous event, one that transforms like the fairy godmothers in Sleeping Beauty. A sparkly wave and voila! you are now gorgeous and pink, voila! now gorgeous and blue. 

It is true that one is redeemed in a moment. Faith in Christ redeems. But the cleanup may take awhile. And it is not easy with ingrained habits and harmful ways of thinking. Minds trained in darkness. This is why prayer, the Word, and the loving fellowship of other believers are so necessary. 

And maybe even an occasional soiree to celebrate.

We wait for the appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness, and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. Titus 2:13-14