Several years ago, while living in southeast Louisiana, I planted my first garden. With the help of church members, I broke up the land and planted tomatoes, corn, beans, peppers, squash and more.

I remember admiring it one afternoon. Corn was waist high. Beans were blooming. Small green tomatoes were on the vine. I went to bed that night dreaming of the first new tomato and a plate of fresh vegetables.

The next morning I went out the backdoor of the parsonage, glanced at the garden and I couldn’t believe it. I ran out to get a better look. The corn was less than knee-high. Most of the other plants had eaten by something. There were hoof prints everywhere.

Later that afternoon I examined the garden again. It was not a complete loss. There were still some tomatoes and blooms on the beans. I went to bed with a bit of optimism.

The next morning when I went outside I was devastated. This time the destruction was total. Except for a few torn leaves lying on the ground you could not tell a garden had ever been planted. Everything was gone.

It seems that I lived in an area that was “free-range.” It was fully legal for cattle to roam free. You were responsible to fence in your garden. I had fed another man’s cows and there was nothing I could do about it. So much for my first garden!

About a week later there was a knock on the door. The man asked me if I had lost my garden. And then he called his two sons to come to the house. In they walked with two boxes filled with steaks, ground meat and roasts.

Apparently he had lost his garden, too, but he had done something about it. “You would do well not to tell anyone where you got this,” he said as he walked out the door.

I planted okra and butterbeans. I ate sirloin and T-bones. Pretty good deal, don’t you think? I’m confessing some 35 years later.

Please don’t misunderstand. God never acts unethically. I probably should have confessed earlier, but I was too frightened to do so.

But my bounty that year can easily be compared to the goodness of God. We do so little for him, and he blesses beyond measure. It is the equivalent of planting beans and eating steak. That is how good he is!

I hope you have enjoyed the abundance that God provides. He truly is good. You can trust him with your life.