The Fred Shed

 This week I proved the truth of the saying that we learn best by doing. I built a shed. I call it the Fred Shed. It is the first thing I have ever built that could stand up by itself.
Although I have quite a collection of power tools - skill saw, chop saw (given to me by the widow of a close friend), table saw, band saw (which I bought at a yard sale this past summer), drill press, and grinder, to name some of them - I had not the opportunity to use them until now. I recently retired from full time ministry and am learning some new skills.
My shed project (I still have to install the doors and trim) has been a blend of old and new technology. For starters I went to the Internet and googled "how to build a shed." I found complete plans that contained a materials list and step by step instructions. I read the instructions for Step One, went out and purchased the material, completed the step and then went back on the Internet and read Step Two and so on until I am now at Step Seven, the last step.
Along the way I have learned a lot of things about shed building. I have learned how to operate my vaious power tools. I have learned where to purchase building supplies. I have learned a whole new vocabulary - joist, lintel, stiles, and gusset. I have learned how to spell sheathing and jamb.
I have also learned some things not directly relating to shed building. I have learned that one has to be careful when around tools, patient when the weather turns bad, persistant when mistakes are made. I have also learned that I can do some things that I did not know I could do - that it is possible to teach an old dog new tricks.
And there has even been a spiritual lesson in all of this. I thought about the fact that Jesus was a carpenter and worked with wood. I thought about Paul's illustration of the Church being God's building and each individual Christian being a stone in that building. Or to use the shed anology, each Christian would be a nail or a board in that building.
I can hardly wait to get on to my next learning project.

Champions

This week I had the privilege of attending a Hope in the City breakfast sponsored by The Salvation Army. The guest speaker was Catriona Le May Doan, the Canadian Olympic Speed Skating Champion and gold medal winner in two consecutive Olympic games.
Catriona is an inspiration to everyone who strives to do his or her best, especially to those who try and then fail, but who get up and try again. While the bio on her website speaks only of her wins, at the breakfast she spoke of one of her most devastating failures in a championship race when she fell and came in last place - 33rd in a field of 33 skaters. While she spoke a video played on a nearby screen showing her falling and crashing into the wall.The event caused her to doubt herself she said. She wondered if she had what it took to be a champion.
Catriona told about how she overcame those negative thoughts and went on to become the fastest woman on skates in the world.
As she spoke, I wished that every child and teenager who has ever failed a test or did not qualify for a team could hear her story. I thought too of all the people who have been let go from their jobs during these difficult economic times and who have not been able to secure new jobs yet. The message is simple: never give up.
In one of my Bibles I have a bookmark that was given to me by the residents of one of the seniors residences I used to visit. The bookmark contains a poem The Road Ahead by Helen Steiner Rice and read like this:

Often your tasks will be many, and more than you think you can do.
Often the road will be rugged, and the hills insurmountable, too -
But always remember, the hills ahead are never as steep as they seem,
And with faith in your heart, start upward and climb till you reach your dream.

My God give you the courage and faith to reach your dreams for His glory.

Transplanted

It was the English poet Dorothy Frances Gurney who wrote

The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's Heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.

This past week my wife and I gave attention to our backyard in preparation for winter. We cut back plants, trimmed bushes and filled large brown paper bags with leaves and brush. Our biggest task was to dig up a large bush and transplant it to the front of our house. I needed the space for a shed I am planning to build, and there was a bare spot at the front of the house occupied by an old, dead stump.
The bush had roots deep into soil. It did not want to let go easily of the place it had occupied for who knows how long. I had to use my pick and shovel to dig a deep, wide trench all around it. Every ten minutes I tugged on it to see if there was any movement. After more than an hour, it reluctantly let go and bowed to my wishes.
Then I had to prepare the new location. More digging. Another half hour with the pick and shovel. Then came the actual move. I hauled the bush around to the front of the house and placed it in its new home. After filling in the soil around it I gave it a good watering. The next day it looked as if it had always been there.
I thought of all the moves my wife and I made during our 40 years of ministry. The decisions to move were never ours. Sometimes we moved with great reluctance. Sometimes with eagernes. But always with a sense of trepidation as we wondered what lay ahead. But like our transplanted bush, it was never long before we felt as if we were always there and that it was the place where God wanted us to be.
Now in retirement our latest move has been our own choise...or was it? I like to think that God had His hand in our decision making, especially because we made it a matter of prayer. Our challenge now is to "bloom where we're transplanted."