The following is a story that was published in Issue 18 of Family Ties magazine of how Legacy Farms began... Keep checking back for updates on the farm.

A Picnic With The Lord

By:  Jeanie Balzer 

I awoke one spring Sunday morning last April believing it would be another typical Sunday, but boy was I wrong, and I soon found out that the Lord has His own plans for the day. 

As normal, I was preparing for church brushing my hair and the Lord spoke to my spirit and said, “Go to where you were baptized and then go to your Grandma and Grandpa’s old farm place.”  I said, “Yes Lord I can do that” and didn’t give this another thought.  I went downstairs to the kitchen area and I turned to pick up my purse and keys and the Lord softly spoke, “Pack a picnic.”  I stopped dead in my steps and said, “Pack a picnic????” This sounded too strange.  One, because I’ve never had the Lord to direct me to something like this, and two, I didn’t have anything in my refrigerator to pack.  I opened the refrigerator and I found a bagel, some pimento cheese, an apple, and a bottle of water. That is really all I had in the refrigerator, so I packed it in a little red cooler and left.

I proceeded on to church where we had a great service.  Kim, a friend of mine, and her daughter Jessica were there and Jessica gave her testimony and sang a song.  It was truly a blessed service.   As I was about to leave the church, my sister in the Lord Emma said, “Where are you going?” I said to her with a smile, “I’m going on a picnic with the Lord” to which she laughingly replied, “Sounds like fun.”  I passed my sister in the Lord Donna on my way out and she quickly said, “Oh, Jeanie I have a Women of Faith paper to give you but I left it at my house…where are you going now?” to which I responded, “I’m going on a picnic with the Lord.”  She said, “Well…if you get past the house stop in and pick it up.” 

As I departed the church house, I normally make a right turn to go home but in obedience, I made a left turn towards the place I was baptized.  I was baptized in a creek right outside Minford, Ohio so off I went.  It was a beautiful spring day.  The sun was shinning brightly and the sky was a Godly blue. You know the blue that is so blue only God has the words to describe it. 

When I arrived at the location, I just pulled off to the side of the road where there was a small gravel pull off.   I opened my sunroof and the windows and I just sat in my car and said to the Lord, “Lord, you invited me.”  I knew I was not to do any talking, praying, or anything.  My normal reaction would be to put in some music and praise and worship but I knew it was time to just rest with Him.  I enjoyed the warmth of the sun and sat quiet for a time until I felt it was time to drive to the farm.  The drive was very peaceful but yet I tried to anticipate what was in store. What is this about?   I turned off the main highway to the old country road that leads back to the farm.  The road takes you  underneath a narrow old railroad overpass and then it leads across a rickety blue metal bridge.  As I was half way across the bridge I saw a very small sign that read “Farm for Sale”. 

When I saw this sign, I began to weep and I gasped, “My Lord!!! You brought me up here because this farm is for sale.” As I spoke these words, it felt as if warm oil poured from the top of my head down my body.  The presence of the Lord was so strong, I really believe if you had been standing outside the car you would have seen a glowing from the inside.   I continued to drive around the road to where the farm actually was located and I had my head actually bowed touching the steering wheel, now sobbing out loud.  When the entrance to the farm finally came into site; there bigger than life, was a realtor sign reading “82 acres... Farm for sale”.  I was stunned and drained and still mumbling…. you brought me up here because this farm is for sale.  I sat at the top of the hill crying and asking the Lord what this was all about.  I remember fearfully saying to the Lord, “Lord, I’m almost 50 years old and all by myself.  What do you want me to do with this farm?” As I looked out over the hills and valleys filled with an old house, junk and weeds, the spirit showed me a lake and I could see people walking around.  I became so afraid that I rapidly drove off the hill and went behind the old Stockdale School, cried for a long time, and then opened my picnic.

Trying to make since of all of this, I reached the point that it was so overwhelming that all I knew to do was…run….go and visit my grandson.  Guess what?  He was not home.  I thought I would go and talk to Emma. She wasn’t home.  I then knew I needed to go back to the farm.  So once again, I sat at the top of the hill knowing I needed to go further in this Sunday journey.  I knew the realtor that had the farm listed so I went to her house and I told her I no longer do business on Sunday anymore since God closed the craft mall on Sundays, but I assured her this was not my business but was the Lord’s business.  She willingly gave me copies of the property and told me they had an offer but that offer had lots of problems.  I quickly stopped her and told her that I didn’t know if I was going to make an offer, but all I knew was I needed to get the information. 

I thanked her, apologized for bothering her on Sunday, and I left and went back on the hill to the farm.  I now had aerial drawings of the land and was getting more and more confused by the minute.  By now, it was about 3:00 pm.  It had taken about 3 hours to get to this point, and it was becoming clear why the Lord had me pack a picnic. 

I started home and remembered I needed to pick up the Women of Faith paper from Donna’s, so I went to her house.  As I arrived at her home I was greeted by Donna and Rex, her husband, and I found out her two young sons had went with their grandmother.  Her first question was, “How was you picnic and I began to cry and tell her about my afternoon.”  She immediately said, “Lets go see it!”

So, we all got in my car and back up the hill we went.  As I reenacted the story as we traveled under the railroad overpass, over the bridge, and we then began to round the hill when Donna blurted out, “Jeanie this is God!”  I said, “I know!” The realtor sign came into vision and Donna screamed, “There it is!”

There we sat on top of the hill with me in the driver’s seat, Rex in the passenger front seat, and Donna in the back seat.  Rex is holding the aerial drawings and looking over the land trying to gain his bearings of who owns what and I said timidly, “Rex, can we build a lake here? And he said, “Oh yeah, the land is natural for it.”   I hung my head and said, “I thought so. God already showed me one.”   We started to drive off the hill and we saw the old man who owned the property standing outside so I thought I should stop and tell him who I was since I had been up and around there 4 times already. 

I had met this gentleman about 3 or 4 years ago after one of my cousins had passed away and a few of the cousins went up to just see what the farm looked like.  I remember saying to this man then that maybe someday maybe I’d buy this farm.  As I spoke to him and told him God had sent me up here today to show me this farm was for sale. I recalled saying that but I never really had any great desire to buy this farm.  In Issue 2 of Family Ties I had written a story of being on this farm when I was little and I had good memories of being on the farm.    

We went back to Rex and Donna’s house and as we were walking into the house, I said to Donna, “What do you think this is all about? And she replied, “Maybe it something to do with that old man.”  I told her, “I sure don’t know.”  The grandmother and the boys were home and we sat down at their table and everyone was talking but me.  I asked Rex for the telephone because I knew what I was supposed to do.  I called the realtor and told her, “I need to make and offer on the property and I am not to offer a dime less than the listed price.”  If this doesn’t prove God’s ways are not our ways because I like to negotiate.  I like guessing how much moving room there is from the list price but the Lord said, “Not a dime less.”   As I reflected to Patti, the realtor, the events of the day and told her how confused I was and that Donna said it might be about that old man.  Patti said he had come on some hard times and had a stroke and had to sell the place.  I told Patti, “Maybe it is about that but why would God want me back that hollow.”  Patti quietly said, “But it’s a pretty hollow and wouldn’t it make a nice retreat.”  I immediately said in my mind, RETREAT…. I can build a retreat.  I love to build and develop and then reality came back and I said to her, “I don’t know what this is about but I know I need to make the offer.”  

I hung up the telephone and the offer was made.  Good, I thought.  Good, it was done.  Then the telephone rang and it was Emma asking Donna if she had seen me.  Donna laughingly said, “She is here why don’t you come on over.” 

A few minutes later in walked Emma and all I said was, “Get in the car.”  I explained to her the details of the day and up the hill we went again.  We sat up there and cried together and then Emma said, “Where’s your Bible?”  I pointed to the back seat and she got it and opened it to Act 8:29 The spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” Emma said, “The Spirit of the Lord told you to go and you did.  This is what this reminds me of.”  She said, “Wonder why He sent you to where you were baptized?”  Not really knowing, I told her all I could think of was it was obedience first, but then I thought if I packed a picnic that was the hard one.

On April 21, we signed the papers for me to purchase the property and began the title searches.  There arose lots of problems with getting a clear title and the earnest agreement ran out and Patti called me frustrated with the deal and said, “It doesn’t look like we are going to get a clear title.  What do you want to do?”  I said, “Let’s just let it go and if God wants this property it will happen.” 

On July 12, my attorney called and said everything had been cleared and we could close.  So we set a closing date of Friday July 16, 2004. 

I called my uncle Paul who had bought this from my grandparents and had been the one who sold this property to the man who owned it now, and asked him if he could meet me at the property on July 14, 2004, the Wednesday before the closing.   I had my son meet us up on the farm with two 4-wheelers so we could check out the boundary lines.

When we arrived with 2 pickup trucks and 2 four wheelers is when God began to reveal the purpose of the farm to me.   I stood in the yard of that farm crying and thanking my Lord for sending me here.  I can’t tell you all the details of the events which have taken place since that time but I can tell you they were powerful enough that when I went to close on the property on July 16, 2004, I signed every document that was presented to me, my name and under that “In Jesus Christ”.  I witnessed to everyone present at the closing that I was just the power of attorney for Jesus Christ and that I just represented Him and He was buying the farm.

I left there thinking, “Lord, I try to always represent you in all my life,” but I knew this time it was different than me just living my life for Him.  We so often find a farm or something and say Lord do you want me to do this?  This was a time that I just went on a picnic and did what He asked me to do. When I told my son Joey about my picnic day, I told him when I crossed that bridge I think I could actually feel Jesus smile.  I told Joey it’s like when you buy someone you love a present and you know they weren’t even expecting a present and then they open it and it was something they never really asked for but you just knew they would love it.  And when they opened it, you had amazingly surprised them, and then you smile.  Well, I believe Jesus smiled.

I believe Jesus invited me on a picnic that sunny spring Sunday, just to let me know He loves me and that together, along with others, we will build the lake and He will send the people so Jesus can tell them He made this place on this earth just because we are all “worthy of love.” 

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Join us in prayer that this farm will be just what Jesus intended it to be...

...maybe a place for people to come and just have a picnic with the Lord themselves

...maybe a place for people who have no where else to go

...maybe a place that is a retreat

...maybe a place that children can enjoy

Regardless of what appearance it takes on, I’m sure it will be a place people meet Jesus.  Amen.          

*Just a note. When I came to work the next day at First Capital Craft Mall and told my sister Darla the farm story of course she cried but when I opened the aerial drawings to her and said what do you see Darla she said…..I see kids…..lots of kids…maybe it’s a camp.  J Only the Lord knows but we will all know soon.