My husband's first call as a pastor was to a small parish in North Carolina. The parsonage was on a large corner lot.

The hill in the backyard was badly eroded with wide grooves running down to a little creek. Shortly after we moved in I learned that the US Forestry Service would give away 100 pine seedlings to anyone who would use them for soil conservation. I ordered the seedlings and went out one fine spring day to start planting pine trees. I was on my hands and knees planting seedlings when a neighbor came over to see what I was up to. After I explained what I was doing, he said, "Well, I guess it makes sense... except that you don't own the house."

That was true. We didn't own the house. We didn't own much of anything. We had a few pieces of furniture, fifteen boxes of books, and s…