Paul writes about his ambitions in this way:
I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written, ‘Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.’ This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints.
Romans 15:20-25
There are some amazing statements there! The idea that there wasn’t any more room for his work where he was. The idea that he was going to sail all the way to Spain even after having been shipwrecked three times already. The idea that he was going to just show up and be welcomed by a church that he didn’t plant. The list goes on!
It’s all very ambitious from a man who had already seen and done a lot in life. Sarah and I have experienced a lot as well and the idea of Steele Haven, once it’s laid out on an aerial view of our property seems almost overwhelmingly ambitious.
There is already a huge event tent that we’ve put to good use; but the pond, the walking path, the garden, the fruit orchard, the cow and chicken pasture, the greenhouse, the berry patch, the RV park, the veranda, the “Tiny Havens”, the yurt, the tree house, the vardo village, and the bathhouse are all just a figments of our imagination at this point. We’ve got some of the utilities in place and have started clearing trees where needed. The property shown above was horribly eroded and needed a lot of care, but as you can see below, it’s become green and lush and it’s even more beautiful now.
But there is still so much to accomplish, it seems like we’ve hardly begun and it will involve a great deal of time and money. We’ve tried to be faithful with the spaces we do have and have welcomed many into our home and onto our property to find rest. The challenge now is to daily submit our ambitions to God and to trust Him for guidance in choosing our path, wisdom in following it, and provision for the journey He has us on. Our hope is that one day, God will say:
I was hurting and you gave me a yurt to sleep in after comforting me, my spouse was gone and you sat beside me next to the pond, just sharing my loss, I was battling addiction and you gathered around me and my family on the veranda to pray for victory.
Matthew 25:35-40 (loosely paraphrased)
And you will ask, “When did I do this?” and He will say it was because you helped build Steele Haven.