If Jesus was a carpenter, that's good enough for me.

Let's Make Some Sawdust or Not

When my father died a few years ago, he left the woodworking shop that he loved to me and I have great memories of time spent with him in that special place. After a year or two of making minimal use of "The wood shop", it occurred  to me that although my son and I enjoyed working there, it was not being utilized as well as it might be.

The thought to open the shop to others who might want to do some woodworking kept weighing on my mind and heart. So "Out of the Woodwork"was born. What began as an offering to give folks some space, tools and instruction (if needed) to do woodworking, has turned into something much more.

While many useful things have been created for individuals as well as for the church I attend, a more important benefit has emerged. Some folks come and do almost no woodworking other than to help others working on various projects. What started out as simply a place to build objects has turned into a place to fulfill the God-given need for community. Some of the biweekly three hour sessions result in very little sawdust being made. But something more important happens in those sessions. Human connections are made. Folks get to know more about each other and caring relationships are the result. 

The purpose of this blog is to share some of the experiences from Out of the Woodwork and hopefully encourage those who might choose to read it to look around at where in their lives they may have the opportunity to provide spaces to allow caring relationships to develop. Hopefully there will be practical information as well as just good news stories of how we can build better objects of wood and better people through love for one another.