Somewhere in the back of our minds we buried one persistent dream that we could never quite escape from. We tried to pretend it didn't really matter. But I guess it did, or it would have gone away long ago. Wouldn't it? "What is your dream?" our friends had asked. "What is the one thing that just keeps coming back?" That was all we needed to toggle our hearts toward that one forgotten longing that we had forsaken again and again in order to "serve the Lord" as missionaries in foreign lands.

 

When we finally had an opportunity to pray about our friendly encounter and the feelings it raised in our hearts, there was one unmistakable conclusion. We had always harbored agrarian hopes that our apparent "lack of spirituality" allowed to resurface. Repeatedly, over the years, we prayed that God would take these desires away from us. But He just never did. And then we were forced to face the realization that maybe these desires wouldn't go away because we were carrying them with us wherever we went and that maybe they were from God. So we prayed.

 

The end of that prayer brought peace to our hearts. We committed to God that we would at least take a step of faith in that direction and then wait in faith for His answer. We didn't have to wait long. Within twenty minutes someone called me from the States offering to help pay for our rental car if we would agree to come visit them in the very region in which we were praying about buying land. With that quick confirmation, we bought our tickets and headed toward northern Missouri for our furlough.

 

When we had shared our prayers and our plans with the Christian community of which we are a part in Cyprus, we told them simply what we felt in our hearts. "It is all about heritage, the heritage we want to leave to our daughter and the agrarian heritage left to us by our forefathers that we can no longer deny."

 

Aimee had been in touch with a real estate agent in that region who had graciously agreed to do all the footwork for us, lining up properties that met our very narrow criteria. On our first afternoon in the area, we were taken to a beautiful property near "Thousand Hills State Park." Situated on the corner of Blue Sky and Pure Air county roads, this was the kind of property we had been dreaming about -- hilly and green with cattle grazing on its slopes. But, though the region was perfect, there was something not quite right about this particular piece of property.

 

All the rest of the day and all the rest of the next and well into Friday afternoon we scoured the countryside, without success, for a place to call home. Our only ray of hope had come on Thursday morning when Aimee randomly opened the Bible and read from Psalm 50:10 "For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills." "Don't you get it, Mom?" Our daughter Hannah responded, God is telling us that the cattle on a thousand hills are His and that He wants us to live in this region." But since then, no real ray of hope had warmed our hearts.

 

After lunch, as we drove south, I prayed to push away the discouragement that hovered in the car like a wet blanket. "Lord, if this is not from You," I prayed, "if this is just our own vain ambition, I am willing to lay it down. But if this really is from You, then you must know that I'm really discouraged right now and I sure could use a rainbow."

 

Within a few minutes of praying this prayer aloud, a rainbow appeared in the sky in front of us. "Look!" I said. "A rainbow." Sure enough, God had answered my simple prayer. What a loving God! But that wasn't all. A few minutes later, after the rainbow had faded, my wife pointed out a second rainbow. And then, minutes after that one had faded, my daughter pointed out a third rainbow. All of this took place in a matter of only ten minutes and was taken as a sign of God's love and promise.

 

Though it was late Friday afternoon, our realtor persevered, "There is one more property to show you," she offered. "It was not on my list, but I called another realtor in the area and told him what you were looking for and he suggested I show you this one -- unless you're too tired." In fact, we were tired and discouraged, but felt we had still not seen the property we wanted to buy. "No," we responded. "We feel that we really need to make a decision by tomorrow. Let's see it, even if we have to look at it in the dark." As you can guess, the last property we saw was the one we wanted to buy.

 

Looking out over that land in the fading light, with green rolling hills and a creek running through it, and with cattle scattered on its gentle slopes, we knew in our hearts that these were the acres God had promised us. Situated in the same region near "Thousand Hills State Park" and not ten minutes from the first property we had seen, this was the only other property we had looked at where cattle grazed. And this one was promised to us with three rainbows.

 

But the miracles and signs of God's favor did not end with the rainbows. We sent in an offer on the land by Saturday night. The seller received and accepted the offer by Monday morning, with the stipulation that the earnest money would be in the title company's account within three days, that our closing would be on Friday evening, and that the remainder of the funds would have to be in the bank by closing. This left five days to arrange for the funds to be transferred. But, due to some Internet and fax challenges, I was unable to receive the offer until Monday after the banks had already closed and the next day was a bank holiday. Though I had forewarned my bank that I would be making two sizeable transfers in the next few days, since transfers usually take three days to be processed, and since only one transfer could be initiated in this way in any twenty-four hour period, they could offer little encouragement that a closing by Friday night was anywhere near realistic.

 

Wednesday morning, I initiated the first transfer and, surprisingly, within an hour and a half, I received a call from the Title Company that they had received my earnest money. Thursday morning, I initiated my second transfer and by Friday all the funds had cleared the bank before closing.