As I shared in last month’s newsletter article, my father, Howard Clark Malone, died in November of last year. As a result of his passing, I have been involved in additional things I had not considered. I have become more aware of having a will, not having a will, and of his mutual property.
My father bought land in the 1970’s outside of Durant, Oklahoma. The property was then used for both pasture and peanut farming. Over the years, my dad added Ostriches, Emus, and, most recently, landscaping trees. He started planting native trees, including Chinese Pistache, Burr Oak, Live Oak, and Sumardi Red Oak, in 1992.
When he passed, my mom shared with me that I was in charge of the farm and whatever I wanted to do was ok with her. When she made that statement, I began to feel the burden of the land. I thought of the trees that he had planted, which were all shapes and sizes. Some are 30 feet tall with large root systems; others have trunks the size of a pencil because they were planted last year. I thought about the need to sell the trees, but was unsure of the best way to get it done. I thought about the equipment that had accumulated over the years, some of which runs and some do not.
The truth is, all of that became overwhelming. I developed what I am calling an owner’s mentality. It was as if all the things that related to the farm became a burden, with each one becoming an item placed on my back. As I moved through each day thinking about the load I was carrying, it became a weight I could not get rid of and a growing stressor.
It wasn’t until Saturday, after our great freeze, that I was able to get some relief when I went to the farm and began to traverse through the icy terrain to the lake. As I walked across the land my dad had worked on all those years, I realized something. God reminded me that neither my mother nor I owned the land – it belonged to God. As I thought through that reality, I was reminded of the verses in scripture that reference
this principle that I am a steward and God is the owner. Psalm 24:1,2
The earth and everything in it,
The world and its inhabitants,
Belong to the LORD;
For he laid its foundation on the seas
And established it on the rivers. (Psalm 24:1,2)
I was also reminded of Genesis 2:15, where it says, “The LORD God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it.” This verse affirms our relationship with the land. I then thought about the land I was walking on as God’s land, which he had given me to steward. It was not truly mine; it was His. What a sense of peace came over me as I thought through the ramifications of that paradigm shift. From that moment on, my prayer has been, “God, what would you have me do with this property?”
Since that day in January, I have begun to apply this principle to other parts of my life. Personally, I have begun asking how I can best steward the stuff God has given Cathy. Professionally, I have started asking myself how I can best steward the DBA. How can others help in the process of stewarding and growing the DBA, and, most importantly, the kingdom of God?
May we not forget that God owns it all and that we are each a steward of what He has given us. May we strive to be good managers of God’s creation and His work.