Building and storms

My office is back to normal. The new wood floor is all finished.

 Books are back in the bookcases and I can find all the files I need, without wandering around the house trying to remember where I put stuff. (now I want you to know that is not because my mind is wandering more as I age. I have always been able to lay stuff down and totally have no idea where I put it. I think it is because I have more important philosophical matters taking up my brain power. So shut up already.)  

It was a struggle putting in the last of flooring while trying not to totally empty the office. The lazy man makes more work for himself by trying to do less work.

I definitely lived and worked in a mess for a few days. I have decided it is time to go through the book shelves and start down sizing a bit. Some of those books will never be read again. I have 2 copies of Matthew Henry Commentaries. 2 copies? 1 is probably more than I need.

I love books but when you have bookcases in the hallway and even a few in the family room and hallway in the basement, it might be time to cull the herd, so to speak. As I write this I have already marked 4 books to get rid of. At this pace I will have gotten to my goal, oh lets see, about never. I add too many every year to think 4 books every 2 weeks is going to be a net loss.

Sharon and I went to the ground breaking for the new Lake View Camp Campus. There were 100 campers there that day at the ground breaking.

We are on the CEC (Campaign Executive Committee) committee for Lake View Camp. We thought we were just showing up to lend support and praise God for the progress. Then we got called up to handle a shovel and turn some dirt. It was a privilege. God is using Lake View to change kids lives. Children are asking Jesus to be their savior. It gets your perspectives in the right place. We need to be more concerned with souls for eternity than the day to day "small" problems we have. 

 

The day after we were at Lake View the tornadoes blew through. We spent a day helping my sister and her son rebuild fences.

Our son Joshua and his wife Casey were up for the weekend. Joshua grabbed a chain saw and set to work. Cut the trees off the place where the fence used to be and we tried to put up something that would hold cattle. Came in real handy that Casey knows how to put up electric fence. It was amazing to see wires stripped off the poles and thrown into the trees. How could the wind catch barbed wires and pull them straight up off the poles? 

There were several pieces of wood caught in woven wire. A wire would be right through the middle of the board. The board had to be split and smashed to get it pulled out of the fence. How did the wire get through the middle of the board??

It took more than a chain saw to get the livestock trailer back off the fence

There was siding off Marlys' house but Micah got it all back on and replaced a couple of cracked and bent pieces from some extra stored in the garage rafters. Real handy having sons who know how to do construction. When Matthew was in Toronto working with a mission to the Somali population, he was in an apartment where a light switch was not working. "I think I have one of those in my car" he said. He got it and replaced the switch. The missionary who works there all the time asked him not to do that again. "The Somalis will expect me to be able to fix electrical issues." 

I wrote a while back about a tenant who had been in a "bad place" but it looked like she was getting her life back together. It didn't last. She is in prison now for drug possession and auto theft. 

We can put down new flooring and we can start new buildings but the storms of life can blow away all of our work and efforts. You can collect things (maybe like too many books) but the storms of life can blow down what you have built and blow away what you have. The wise man built his house upon the rock. 

Maybe the tenant who is in a bad place needs to spend some time behind bars to find a way to drive out her demons without self medication. Her life is now blown away by the storm. God rides the thunderclouds, I pray He is riding them into this woman's life. I know her mother is praying that also.

Reset

I made the mistake this week of trying to be a mechanic. That never seems to work well for me.

Matthew's girlfriend had taken his car to Ankeny last Sunday for a wedding. Matthew traveled up later with our vehicle. Well Matthew's car would not start after the wedding. He called me and it sounded like a dead battery. He tried to jump the car but it failed to start. I told him to come home and we would go back Monday morning and get a new battery or see what was wrong.

You ever have one of those deals where you are kind of sure this is not a normal fix. Yea, that is what I was thinking as I went to sleep Sunday night. Matthew needed to be back in Michigan on Monday evening and I really was not happy about sending him down the road even if we put in a new battery. What if the alternator had failed and it drained the new battery as they were traveling 8 hours to Michigan.

We headed out to Ankeny early Monday morning. Hooked up the battery cables once again and still just a click and a slight buzz when the key was turned. Then we disconnected the battery cable from Matthew's battery and put the jumper cables directly on the live cable. Maybe if Matthew's battery had a dead cell it was drawing all the current. Didn't help. We took out the battery and went to a Arnold's Motor store. They tested the battery and it tested good. The man who tested it said look the battery is 6 years old and it has leaked fluid out the top edges. I can assure you it is the battery. I am thinking OK I will buy a new battery but I think I am throwing money down the drain.

 Yep that is Matthew steering as I push the car away from a block wall so a tow truck can get at it. The new battery did absolutely nothing to change our status. Just a click a buzz and all the lights go out.  I had asked who was a good mechanic at the Arnold's Motors store because I had a bad feeling about this.

They told us to go to Midwest Muffler. I asked Midwest muffler? I am sure it is not the muffler that needs to be fixed. "Oh they do all kind of repairs". So we drove to Midwest Mufflers. The man there asked "has it been underwater like all the cars on our parking lot?" Ankeny had a heavy rain and many cars were flooded. We told him it had not been in water. It sounds like your starter is shot. We can work it about Friday. Friday? Matthew needs to get back to Michigan. We could send them off in our vehicle and then maybe figure out a way to bring them his car and get ours later. Yes! a 16 hour trip. That is my idea of not a good time. The man at Midwest Mufflers said every good mechanic in town is going to be swamped (don't you love that, cars under water and they are swamped) with work. Those that aren't, well there is a reason. 

I asked if he would have anyone he would recommend. "There is a Midas shop just a couple of blocks from where your car is sitting. They just opened and they shouldn't be very busy." So off to the Midas Muffler shop we went again. I was beginning to think we should just saw the muffler off the car and all would be good. Midas could work on the car immediately. They called a tow truck and the tow truck could pick it up in an hour.

Exactly 1 hour later the tow truck showed up and hooked up the car. Yes I waited an hour by the car to make sure they took the right car. The way the day was going I could just see us getting to the Midas shop later in the day and finding they had fixed someone else's car.

While Midas had the car we went to Jethro's BBQ to eat. As we finished our meal and were walking out the door I got a call from Midas. Your car is ready to go. The security lock out was on. What? Oh Baby, we had driven to Ankeny, I had bought a new battery, paid to have the car towed, paid a mechanic to trouble-shoot the car, and set Matthew back 5 hours on the trip back to Michigan. All that needed to be done was leave the key turned on for 10 minutes to reset the security lockout and the car would start. Hey if anyone needs any mechanic work done send your car my way, I'll get it fixed the long expensive way, even if it just needs to be reset.

Sometimes our lives need to be reset too. We can try to fix everything and all we need is the reset button. I had a conversation with a woman this week. You can get in some mighty interesting conversations if you are willing to listen. She is looking for a church home here in Oskaloosa. She had been told that I was a pastor and wanted to know where my church was so she could come on Sunday. I had to explain to her that I was not really a pastor and did not have a church where I lead the services every Sunday. I did invite her to come to my home church First CRC. 

She told me some of her story. She was a stripper. Yes, you read that correctly she worked at a strip club in the past. She had been raised in a church and had turned to the world. She had come to see her need for salvation and that she was a sinner. Here's the great part. She told me she had been born again and now she was a virgin in Christ. Wow. she had been given a reset by God. I think we too often keep looking at our past and other's past when we should be acknowledging, we are a new creation. The past has been covered by the blood of the lamb. All our sins are paid for and we are born again. Don't look at the past and what you were or what anyone else was. See those who have salvation through the cleansing blood of Jesus, we have been given an opportunity to reset.

steps

I started a new project this week. We are replacing the carpet in our hall and my office. That also includes an area in our bedroom by the master bath. 

Our master bath is sunken from the bedroom. There are 3 steps down.

I purchased oak flooring for the floor but did not want to have 2 inch strips of flooring on the stairs.

I went to the local lumber yard and bought oak boards. Then I cut and routed them to fit where I wanted them to go. It was a very slow process of measuring 3 times before cutting once. Tolerances may be about 1/4 inch in a rental house but they are about zero in my house.

I put 3 coats of polyurethane on the boards and then installed them. 

After the steps were in I could begin to lay down the floor in the bedroom entrance. 

Once the bedroom part was finished, it was time to move on to the hall. But to lay the hall floor straight through the doorway and into the office meant my desk needed to be taken apart and moved.

And not just the desk but all the bookshelves as well. I have half of the office emptied into other rooms of the house. The other half I am hoping I can move inside the office once half of the floor is in. Just do it in steps, so to speak.

On Wednesday I was able to get a bit of a start. At least the first rows are in and now I can speed up across the hall and the office. Thursday morning we left on a get away to North East Iowa with our sons.

Joshua our oldest is married to Casey. They are on the right. In the middle is Micah with Lindsey his girlfriend. On the left is Matthew with Meagan. Matthew and Meagan are getting Married March 30 next year.

We rented a house to stay in.

Maybe for the first time I could say my boys are grown up.

They might have thought they were grown up for years now, but that doesn't mean their dad has always seen it that way.

I have seen them take a lot of steps in their lives, but now I realize that they are all moving on and in relationships that are, to them perhaps more important than the relationship with their parents.

That is a good thing. They are adults. Forming their own families. They are taking steps and maturing in ways that I can be proud of.

They are adding people to our family.

Micah and I went for a walk along the top of that cliff for a bit.

Then we went down the stairs to the valley below. If we had gone the other way I would have a great picture of climbing steps to go with this post. I have a picture of descending steps. I see that happen in too many lives around me. Instead of life getting better it gets worse as people take steps that lead down instead of up.

This evening I stopped to talk to Steve again. I was going to ask him to come to church with me tomorrow. I had the conversation all planned out. Steve came out of the house and I was ready. Steve is always up for some conversation, but not tonight. He said " I am really tired it's time for me to go to bed." He turned around and walked back into the house. I was left standing there wanting to say, "no wait, I want you to come to church with me, we are serving a meal." But he was gone inside and I was left outside alone. 

I drove back home almost wanting to cry. I want Steve to have the joy of assurance of salvation. But then I told myself life is a series of steps. Tonight is not the last time I will talk to Steve. I will talk to him next week. I will talk to him next month. The Devil may have won tonight, but God will have the final say. As long as God leaves Steve in my life I will keep trying. It may be a series of steps. When climbing a stairway, you don't quit after the first riser. You keep taking steps till you reach the top. 

The fact is the destination is not up to me. My job is just to keep climbing the steps God puts in front of me. God has the end planned out and in sight, when all I can see in front of me is more steps.

So lets keep climbing.

It's a journey

     Micah and I bought a house back in February. We knew when we bought it that we would have to reside it this year. It had the Masonite 12 inch siding on it. The stuff had out lasted it's life span. 

     We are using an engineered wood siding called Smart Siding. I am not sure how smart it is because it is made from particle wood with a veneer on the outside. 

     We caulk all the joints and everywhere it meets a trim board to try to keep moisture out.

     And then we paint. we paint with a sprayer to try once again to get all the joints and ends coated with paint so they are sealed.

     We put on all new trim boards. It makes it so much easier to paint if the boards are not weathered

     Narrower siding and new trim with a new coat of paint can make a house look a whole lot better.

     I know the old is still underneath, but it is hidden away. It has become part of the structure even though it is out of sight. 

      It is definitely a process. First you decide you can not just paint the old but have to do a radical improvement

    You put up the new and make sure you have closed all the avenues for destruction to work it's way in.

    Then you put on the finish and you can see the difference.

     Irv put in a tile around a house of ours to try to keep the basement dry. The fill is settling and I don't have a loader to move the dirt where it needs to be. I am in the process of getting the lawn level again. It is a a slow process. I do some each day. Each day it may not look like I get much done but it adds up day after day. 

     We had 3 rental houses inspected this week. The tenant in one works a lot of double shifts. 16 hours a day. She had done all of the laundry for her family. The clothes had been washed and dumped in a pile in front of the washer and dryer. The inspector was not a happy camper. That had to be picked up and put away. I tried to explain to him that when I went through the house last week to make sure all the smoke detectors, carbon dioxide detectors and GFI outlets were working there was not clothing by the washer. I think he thought I was lying.I am not sure what city code he could cite but I didn't ask. The inspector told me if I had the tenant get all of the clothing put away and send him a picture he would pass the house. 

    Working double shifts with 3 children, trying to get the bills paid without any Government help has to be tough. The middle son was home so I went back in and said "lets help your mom out, I will help you and lets get all these clothes gone." The boy got right at it and thanked me several times for helping his family. I just didn't want to have to pay the $75 reinspection fee. Sometimes we can have everything cleaned up and we end up with a mess again

     I spent some time talking to Steve tonight. Steve is having some tough times. he was getting above water and then he got in a relationship. Wow did life do a high dive off a cliff.  Steve kept trying to help the woman. He said "I thought I loved her". She was carrying to much baggage from a traumatized childhood. Steve said "I learned you can't save everyone."  It ended up with both of them arrested because she was beating on him and he dialed 911. Domestic situations and they arrest both. 

    Steve said another couple of weeks and he will be back out of the hole he fell into. "I just hang around with the wrong people, but good people, people who aren't poor don't want me around." 

     We had been talking awhile and we were talking about God. I said "Steve, you should go to church." He said,"I have read the Bible, I am a Christian, but I have a problem with the church. They show up and are Christian 1 maybe 2 days a week. The rest of the week they aren't."

     I said, " Steve our minister said a couple of weeks ago if you are only serving God on Sunday, you are an empty suit. You want to meet better people go to church." I will see him again next week. After he thinks about it for a week maybe I can get him to come to a church. 

    It's a process. It's a process for each one of us. We kind of like to think we started life all cleaned up. We started life looking good on the outside, just like a house with new siding. We forget what is under that veneer. We don't want to think of the sins we keep hidden from the world.We like to think the tile is laid and the lawn has regrown and it was not an ugly process. We like to think the laundry is always put away and we never slide back into having a messy life.

     Do you know anyone like Steve? If you do, do they know you care about them as they are now. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see. We have sung that for decades but do you apply it to yourself. I was lost, I was blind. I was in a hole just a different hole than Steve. Doesn't make me better than Steve, I am just further along in the process because of God's grace. I pray that I am going to see God change a life again. I would love to have Steve as a brother for eternity.

   Steve had a point tonight. If we only act "christian" on Sunday and treat those who have less than us with contempt the rest of the week, God might say at the end of our life " I don't know you."