Bittersweet Farm Journal (Number 1) The Story of Bittersweet Farm

This is one of the sweetest and most remarkable stories I have ever written. I trust it will build your faith and encourage your heart.

Is God in it? Does it Have Character?

On July 30 2017 I was called to pastor Bethel Church of Jackson, Michigan. When we knew we were moving to Jackson County and buying a new home there were two things I wanted especially. We could do without either one, but I thought it would be good if these two things were true about the house.

One, I wanted to know that God was in it.

Two, I wanted the house to have some character, some uniqueness.

Neither of these things had to be true. God would be in it even if we did not have the luxury of a mystical sense of divine circumstances, and if the house didn’t have special character, it would when Lois was done adding her touches to it.

The first day of October was a Sunday. After church we would look for a house. The sky was clear and the air was cool that day. By the time we finished lunch and started our house-hunting it was late afternoon.

The first house was in a subdivision south west of town in Summit Township. The drive out to the house took us down roads arched over with trees full of autumn color. The road rose and fell gently as we drove. Along one road was a small patch of trees on both sides of the road. Just beyond that was a pretty white farmhouse beautifully maintained, yard groomed, grass green, sitting in a cluster or Walnut trees. A little hand-lettered sign in front said; “For Sale by Owner.”

“Look at that house,” I said. “Its for sale by owner.”

It was “the golden hour” of day. Sunlight slanted through the trees. There was a beautiful haze along the ground out in the field behind the house. The fields were framed with trees in the color autumn. The sky was October-blue.

Lois said; “It’s an old farmhouse. I’m sure it needs a lot of work. That would not be good for us.”

“We have to take a look, it’s a John Sloane house,” I said.

A John Sloane House

For years I have enjoyed the paintings of John Sloane. Sloane often paints country scenes. Usually they have farm houses in them. This house looked like it could have come out of a John Sloane painting. Behind the house was a field stretching back to a woods a half-mile away. Beside the house was a beautiful deer preserve. Across from the house a woods. I circled back.

The owner, a man named Charles, was kind and eager to show us his place. It was beautifully and tastefully restored throughout. Parts of it were brand-new and other parts were beautifully restored. It had new windows, driveway, roof, furnace, air, bathrooms, and kitchen. It was charming. It was painted white, had a little two-story barn beside it and set on a delightful two acres of land.

After our tour I asked Charles if he would consider an offer contingent on the sale of our home. He immediately agreed. We agreed on a price. He included all the appliances and a number of valuable possessions and up-grades. We went home hopeful. It certainly had character—but was God in it? Would He allow us to have this delightful place? Lois, Hope and I prayed as we drove away that God would allow us to have this home if it was His will.

Charles called a few days later and promised to hold the property for us until our house sold. He took the house off the market and didn’t entertain any back-up offers. He promised to save the house for us. He was true to his word. He moved out December 15th. Granville Cottage sold and on January 16. We bought the home on January 19th and moved in on the 20th.

A Name for Our New Home

At Thanksgiving Wes and Dylan, Dan and Katelynn visited. Wes and Dylan were able to stay over Sunday. They visited Bethel Church and we drove them out the house to see it. While we were exploring we came upon a patch of Bittersweet growing in a fence-row. Lois and Dylan cut a sprig of it. When they returned to the car I knew immediately we had a name for our home.

The last few months had been very difficult—the most difficult months in our lives. Our hearts were broken. We had endured a dark and bitter providence. I had stepped away from our pastorate of ten years. Our circumstances were sad, but our God was faithful. People rallied around us to support us. Family rose up to help. Camps and churches invited me to speak—over 116 times in the summer. From April to September my schedule was completely full. God protected us. God provided for us. God met all of our needs.

I have a red Jeep with 225,000 miles on it. I drove my little red Jeep for the first part of the summer. It was faithful and reliable. I told the story in a series of posts I called “The Red Jeep Journal.” Mid-way through the summer God provided a late-model Toyota Camry though the help of our son Daniel and his wife Katelynn. (I named the white Camry Grenfell after a great missionary adventurer).

In July God gave us a fine church. Bethel Church allowed me to finish my speaking obligations which I had booked into the second week of September. They allowed me to commute until Granville Cottage sold.

When Something Bad Happens to You God is Always Doing Something Good.

When I spoke this summer I often told the teens; “For those who love God, when something bad happens to you, God is always doing something good.” During the season of trial the sovereign power of God was a great comfort to us. We knew God was doing something good. We were willing to suffer misunderstanding and loss, but we would never doubt the goodness of our God.

Now with this sprig of Bittersweet in my hand I thought of another beautiful and poetic way of expressing the same thought—another way of saying the same thing: “When something bitter happens to you, God is doing something sweet.”

We made up our minds. If God would give us this little “farm” we would name it “Bittersweet Farm,” because we never want to forget that when something bitter befalls one of God’s own, He is doing something sweet.

Tonight I’m writing this story in a quiet corner of an upstairs room on the little place on the earth God has given us that we call Bittersweet Farm. It is our own and we are making our life here in the beautiful countryside a few minutes from our beloved Bethel Church. Deer and wild turkey graze out behind our house and the place is noisy with birdsong and bursting with beauty. It’s our place on the earth.

One of my favorite musicians, Fernando Ortega he has written a song called “A Place of the Earth”

Find me a place on the earth 
Where a weary man can rest 
And listen for your voice 
In the turning seasons 

A quiet place in the world 
Where I can bow 
And confess that I fear 
Where you have brought me, 
Mysterious God 

All of my life 
You have been with me 
My comfort in loneliness 
My hope in the dark 
All of my life 
Lord, please stay with me 
Be my sustaining breath 
Guardian of my heart 

My days are passing by 
Like falling stars 
That blaze across the night sky 
Then they are gone 

But Father, at your side 
I will never be afraid 
For you have held all my days 
In the palm of your hand 

All of my life 
You have been with me 
My comfort in loneliness 
My hope in the dark 
All of my life 
Lord, please stay with me 
Be my sustaining breath 
Guardian of my heart

 
Every week I will be writing to inspire and encourage from the upstairs room on *Bittersweet Farm. You can subscribe to the Bittersweet Farm Journal at www.kenpierpont.com. I will be producing podcasts, videos, and writings to inspire and encourage you to taste the sweetness of God no matter how bitter your circumstances are.

Ken Pierpont
Bittersweet Farm
Summit Township—Jackson County, Michigan
January 26, 2018

*In calling our home Bittersweet Farm we have taken a bit of poetic license. It’s not a working farm. We have no livestock—just Hazard. We have no crops other than the flowers Lois will grow and maybe a little garden patch or a few pumpkins.