Where the Green Grass Grows

I heard an old Tim McGraw song on the radio the other day, and it’s never felt more relatable than now.

“I’m gonna live where the green grass grows

Watch my corn pop up in rows

Every night be tucked in close, to you

Raise our kids where the good Lord’s blessed

Point our rockin’ chairs towards the west

And plant our dreams where the peaceful river flows

Where the green grass grows.”

It’s planting season here, and our farmers are putting in long hours trying to stay ahead of the rain. Growing up with a farmer daddy and grandpa, and a mom who worked at a fertilizer plant, I declared my loathing of the farmer lifestyle, and vowed to get out as soon as I was off to college. But God had another plan.

Fast forward 9 years and just what do you think I do for a living? I farm. I live it, love it, hate it, breathe it, eat it, sleep it, dream it, farm it.   This was not the plan. I wanted a job preferably in a big city. I wanted to wear a suit and heels every day, with a fancy job title, and work my way up some corporate ladder. But God had another plan.

God had another plan, and now here I am. I work at my in-law’s fertilizer plant and my husband and I farm. I am in a weird place. I have truly grown to love this life, but it’s not where I thought I’d be. I find myself feeling a bit lost sometimes, and wishing that I paid more attention to the farm talk growing up. And though I am catching on, there are still times that I don’t feel like I really fit in. Those are the times that I wonder, what if I had a white collar job, would I fit in there?  What am I doing here?  What purpose am I serving?

I got my answer to these questions at a women’s conference this past February. One of the speakers, Eugene Cho, was explaining that we often think the grass will be greener on the other side. We live in a world that encourages us to compare ourselves to others, and to continually strive for the next best thing.  Those were the exact human feelings I was experiencing. So I really tuned in and was eager to hear what Mr. Cho’s solution to this thinking was. Then he said, maybe what the Holy Spirit is really asking us to do is to, “water the grass you’re standing on.”

“Water the grass you’re standing on.” This sounds like an easy enough answer, but it is not. Watering our own grass is work. It’s roll up your sleeves, you’re going to get dirty, work. This means we have to embrace where we are right now, stop listening to ourselves, and start letting God’s word flood our hearts, our minds, and our souls, so it can sink into the grass we are standing on. God’s word is the water and our life is the grass. We cannot grow without Him.

I’m gonna live where the green grass grows

Embrace where He’s placed me, for my future He knows.

Every word He speaks is faithful, and it’s true.

I’ll raise my kids where the good Lord blessed

With hearts that love Jesus, and no worries for the rest.

There you’ll find Jesus,

Where the green grass grows.