Day 68 of 280 | The 7-40 Challenge
I spent over six hours outside today. Not sunbathing. Working.
We hauled tree clippings to the dump. I mowed the entire yard. We hung gates on my wife’s garden. And by the time I came inside, I was sunburned, sore, and more satisfied than I’ve been in a while.
Which is funny, because in my younger years, I absolutely hated yard work.
We moved into this house in June of 2025. We’re the second owners — the previous owner had it for 23 years. She had fruit trees planted, landscaping installed, and a home that was well-loved for a long time. But somewhere in the last several years, things fell into disrepair. She moved on, and the yard didn’t move with her.
When we got here, we found trees that were overgrown. Vines climbing up into the branches. Wire supports from when the trees were young — still wrapped around the base, now growing into the bark because nobody ever removed them. Beautiful, healthy trees being quietly damaged by neglect.
The grass had weeds woven through it. The landscaping needed major remediation. The bones were good, but the care had stopped.
Sound familiar?
My wife — who is a far more skilled gardener than I will ever be — went to work on those trees. She pruned them back hard. Cut away the dead wood. Removed the vines. Freed the trunks from the wire that was choking them. Some of those trees look like they’ve had major surgery.
They may not be as fruitful this year. But they’ll be healthy. And in the years to come, they’ll produce more than they ever did when they were overgrown and neglected.
Last year, before any of this work was done, we picked over 75 pounds of apples off just two of our nine apple trees. Trees that hadn’t been tended to in years. Imagine what happens now that we’ve actually taken care of them.
I couldn’t stop thinking about this today while I was mowing.
Because this yard is my life.
For twenty years, I had good bones. I had talent. I had ideas. I had desire. But things had fallen into disrepair. Habits I should have been tending to were overgrown. Wires I should have removed years ago — old ways of thinking, old excuses, old patterns — were growing into the bark. I was still producing some fruit, but nowhere near what was possible if someone had just taken the time to prune.
That’s what the last 68 days have been. Pruning.
Cutting away the things that don’t need to be there. Making sure the state of my life is in order. Organizing every day so that the conditions are right for growth. Trimming back activities that weren’t producing anything so the ones that matter can thrive.
It’s not glamorous work. It’s not the kind of thing that makes a good Instagram post. But it’s the work that makes everything else possible.
I started reading Todd Henry’s Die Empty today while I was mowing. And the title — which sounds morbid if you don’t know the context — is actually one of the most inspiring ideas I’ve encountered.
Henry’s argument is simple: as a creative person, you want to have been so creative, so often, that when your time finally comes, there’s nothing left inside that didn’t get out. You tended the garden. You grew the fruit. You pulled the vines. You planted the seeds. And at the end of the season, there’s nothing else that could have been done.
You die empty. Not because you had nothing. Because you gave everything.
That’s exactly what I’m aiming for. Not just through this challenge, but through the way I choose to live.
I know I was put here to do important things. To take care of people. To love people. To inspire people. To be more and do more than what might meet the eye.
I want to be a good steward of what I’ve been given. I want to make my home beautiful. I want to make my property beautiful. I want to provide for my family. I want to be generous with others. I want to be creative enough that all the things I’ve been put here to do actually get done.
I want to tend the yard — the literal one and the metaphorical one — so that when the season is over, the harvest speaks for itself.
I want to die empty. Because I offered myself as a living sacrifice, one that was pleasing to God in the end.
Day 68 Scorecard:
✅ Bible study and prayer
✅ Exercise (6 hours of yard work)
✅ Reading (Die Empty — Todd Henry + Keep Going — Austin Kleon)
✅ Calories tracked
✅ Water (100 oz)
✅ Gratitude
✅ BiblePictures365
✅ Creative hour
David Willis 