Repurposed?!

Repupose, restore, renewal & recycle; These terms all speak to a similar characteristic of second chances.  This video is a short clip that shows how reclaimed wood benches from a school gym were saved from the trash heap and given a second chance! There are pics tracking the progression of events from a stack of lumber to a trailer load to floor boards to the installation process followed by the tung oil application.
  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyUt6v5yfqc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Interestingly enough, this reminds me of our lives after a change occurs and we turn over a new leaf!  So many times we, or others around us, want to make a change but then, we return to our old way of doing things as soon as we run into the slightest distraction.  Similarly, installing the wood floor literally took a couple of months to get measured, cut to fit, securely anchored and then protected with a natural finish.  Our lives also take time to change.  It will not happen easily or overnight! Often we must act, even if it doesn't feel right or easy.  This is when our actions determine our attitudes!  We choose to act a certain way, even if it is not natural.
   Take a quick look at the video.  Then consider and examine familiar relationships needing a boost.  What connections could use encouragement?  What tender growth could use fertilizer, or maybe just some water and sunlight? 
Where can good discipline not diminish hope?

Why write?

Here we are in Branson enjoying the beginning of a summer break. In the middle of snowmagedden, it helps to remember. The view from this lookout over Tablerock Lake inspired many deep conversations.

When I sit down to write, there are times when I am not sure where I am going with the topic.  My thoughts wander from idea to idea.  This randomness might not be a bad thing when jotting notes or blogs, but it might not be the best way to write a letter to a friend.  Using written words to effectively communicate with others may take some planning or forethought.  For instance, if I have a blog idea and start writing about good teaching but it flows into a discussion about classroom management, it appears random.  If however, I was writing an email to teachers, I might try and be more concise, organized and deliberate.  Every sentence is not really a record of my thought process but a conveyance of a single idea, topic or point.
As we look at Ephesians, Paul begins by sharing about how the message that was for just one group of people now includes all peoples.  The haves and have nots are now the same group. He shares some spiritual implications, then gets right to the action.  (It seems like he addresses the beliefs, then the behaviors of those claiming that belief.). There are behaviors among this new group of people that he serves to address in the letter.  Living alongside each other is that theme and he expands on a few points.  Behaviors and how each should act towards the other, such as being nice and polite seem simple but must have been necessary for his intended audience to hear.  Of course he also addresses indulgences in interpersonal relationships and gluttony.  Regarding the relationships, he touches on both the public and private relationships, outside and inside the family.
Finally, Paul gets to the last ten percent.  The real reason for the letter.  The Armor of God, famous in its own right, yet today, the question is how does it and why is in connected to these other topics?  The prior paragraph may supply a hint.  It seems the people were looking to blame each other, bicker and squabble and direct energy against one another and not to the actual enemy.  The battle is a spiritual battle and not against each other.  These people were getting distracted by other peoples behaviors, actions and maybe even beliefs but this letter intended to neutralize that natural bent.  He just wanted them to get along, yet that is always the hardest thing to accomplish.  They were distracted by behaviors and couldn't love one another.
Looking at the armor of god with that in mind and we see a new perspective.  The belt of truth is exactly how we are to dialogue with others.  Talk in truth.  Doing the right thing is more then just a cute slogan but a command.  He says to put on the breastplate of righteousness and means just that.  Keep things formal.  Keep things proper.  Keep things from dissolving into four set talk or joking but do the right thing!  Having our feet in the boots of the Gospel of peace speaks to the way we act, knowing we are doing what we are supposed to be doing while actually just living our day to day lives.  The shield of faith vitally protects us from the discouraging words from others as well as the tough words we speak to ourselves.  It seems we know best how to bring up all and any negative thoughts, especially when it comes to the ones that gave the greatest impact.  We know what hurts the worst and are not afraid to go there.  Our faith puts those flaming darts out.  The remembering of our faith eliminates those arrows that would otherwise discourage to the point of failure.  The helmet of salvation and the knowledge or understanding doctrinal issues actually serve to protect us.  We become confident that we know what we know but bring a helmet, we don't bludgeon other people with what we know.  In fact our only offensive weapon is the sword of the spirit or the word of god.  The name of Jesus is our weapon.  If we are called into a hostile situation, our device of choice is his name.  For us to attack, we would only use one implement.  Especially against others.  Jesus.
Paul wrote for them to play fair, use kindness and treat each other with respect.  It seems like he was all over the board but in fact, he was focused and driven, trying to get them to be nice. 
I write to gather, orgainze and think through hard thoughts.  Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't?

 

Stay or Go?

"Stay or go?"

 Sitting on top of Frenchman's Bluff in Cuiver River State Park.  (What a great smile!  Hers, not mine!)
 

Consider Hedges:
Last week, our our pastor mentioned hedges and their purpose, characteristics and make-up.  Protection is their purpose.  Time is necessary to get them established and people are needed to create and assemble the hedge.  The metaphor here is both the physical assembly of a border of plants, taking time to grow and develop into a worthy boundary, as well as investing in relationships of sufficient quality. 

The people are the real keys.  We need other people in our lives to form that hedge.  We are to groom them, nourish them and weed them, supplying the attention and cultivation necessary for any successful growing project.

Now think about planting gardens:
Jump ahead a week, while the hedge metaphor is still developing all the various life applications, and consider thoughts from this reading in Jeremiah.   The People have been moved hundreds of miles from their former homelands.  The teacher has written them a letter.  In it he suggests they settle down, plant gardens, have children marry and make grandchildren.  He mentions supporting and building infrastructure and securing an environment for the growth and prosperity of everyone.  He tells them prosperity is at hand and there are blessing in store!

The author wants to encourage these transients to stay, plant gardens, invest in the local community and flourish, without second guessing or wishing about being anywhere else, even if it was called the "promised land."

Necessary to their success?  Time!
Blend both these lessons together, one of a hedge built of people and another of settling down, planting roots and growing a future and it sounds like the message we should hear.  Stay here in Troy.     Know God wants to bless us.  Develop gardens of people, nourishing relationships and connections, as well as fruit trees and vegetables.

We need to be in community.  Relationships are where others can hold us accountable.  Planning a hedge demonstrates the investment and intention to stay.  A willingness to invest, wait for the return and then reinvest again shows trust, vulnerability and speaks to a better future.

Maybe that is the reason we are in Troy?!  Maybe we are not really in exile at all but right where we need to be!

Jeremiah 29:5-7 Build homes, and plan to stay.  Plant gardens and eat the food they produce... Work for peace...  It's welfare will determine your welfare.

 

Should we stay or should we go?  These thoughts point to the direction of staying!

Bleachers to floor

Repurposed Bleachers to Floors

After arguing,and loosing,with my sweet wife about our need for an additional 240 pieces of 16 foot long lumber laying in our garage, an interesting thing happened.  But first, the background.  A local school had pulled down the bleachers in their gymnasium and replaced all the old bleachers with newer, lightweight plastic seats for the audience.  The south side was demolished one year and another party submitted a bid and won the sealed bid process.  The second year, the north side of the cavernous gymnasium was getting a stage installed and the bleachers were again coming out.
The crew pulled it all apart, taking the steel to the local scrap yard but no bids were submitted!  This meant the material was scrap and if we could get it off the premises by "tomorrow night," we could have it.  Well, we scrambled to find a heavy duty tandem axel car trailer 18 feet long and made the 15 mile pickup trips in two loads. Some estimates put the weight of all that lumber upwards of 6000 pounds.
We found a local lumber company that would mill a tongue and groove into every board, sand them smooth and finish to 3/4 inch to turn them into floor boards.  We estimated their moisture to be under 5%. The yellow pine was gorgeous to begin but when processed it exaggerated the natural patina so each board shows detailed grain and highlights.  Again, we borrowed the trailer to deliver the wood then to pick it up after a few weeks of processing time.
A former student, now professional flooring installer, loaned us a pneumatic nailer or two and we cut nearly a hundred 16 foot long boards, often trimming both ends with a mitre or coping to match existing profiles.  Each piece took multiple trips from the house, where we stored it to maintain the moisture content, outside to the garage/shop and back inside before near perfection was obtained on every piece.  A few experienced professionals recommend we use glue and we followed that advice consistently.  The subfloor was secured wherever voids formed areas for potential movement.  We wanted it to "walk" quietly everywhere.
When the wood was finally ready for the install, furniture was relocated, carpets,pad and tack strips pulled and the first of many sweepings administered.  We laid out the floor looking to minimize the long narrow strips along walls, ripped the first piece and began! For the next six weeks, we spent evenings and weekends, installing a single board at a time.  Seems were intentionally aligned to allow the spacing for the pre-existing installation holes to appear randomly and athletically pleasing.  Butt joints were inversely mitered and every piece painstakingly installed.  Halls, thresholds and door jambs were all prepared.  Oak and poplar dowel rods were cut to plug the holes in contracting colors lending a nod to a peg and plank installation.  An orbital sander was rented and increasingly smooth paper was applied to prepare for the tung oil.
Tung oil comes from a seed of the tung tree, pressed and extracted and shipped in gallon containers to the house.  Initially, equal amounts of thinner cut the oil.  Subsequent coats of saw a reduction of the tung oil proportion and increase of the thinner.  This allowed maximum penetration for the oil.  After up to nine coatings, the curing process began taking months and not the alleged weeks as others have experienced.  We feel with the original moisture content so low, it allowed a substantially greater penetration of oil which required additional drying time.
We walked on in with inside shoes only for at least one month.  Gradually, we began to bring furniture in for placement.  It was mandatory every leg or contacting point with the floor be protected with a felt buffer pad securely attached. 
Pictures were taken along the way for documentation and historical recollections. A multimedia presentation was also created and posted on a private YouTube site using some photos to log the progress.
This complete transformation of the house, wood and floors also demonstrated the persistence and deliberate attributes necessary to visualize a difference or change, execute according to the necessary quality and workmanship, and complete the process without being distracted along the way!
Who won the argument? I know we got a gorgeous new floor, now that the process is over.
Thanks Jayne, for winning, everything.

Personal or Professional?

When personal life and professional life merge closer together, when behavior and belief are blended together and when what we do and what we say are united, we become more at peace.  Things seem less stressful.

That is what this blog is for.  It will attempt to overlay various areas of my life.  New for 2014, it may even become a reflection page. It may be random thoughts from home, business ventures or even church.

We'll see.

 

From Times Square in NYC, we had a great time working with students, hanging out with each other and getting to tour the city.  We never made it to the Harley shop but had it within our sights!  Maybe next time.