Reunited

I'll be heading to a reunion soon. So will my wife and my son, in fact he is already attending. Interestingly, we will be in three different places. In the normal routine we would all be heading to the same get together. But this year things are different. My son is in the Dominican Republic on a mission trip sponsored by Foundation for Peace. It is however a reunion in that he was there last year as well and helped begin construction of a church in a fairly remote village. The folks he met then will once more be grateful for the folks who choose to leave a lifestyle beyond anything they can imagine in order to help them. He will be doing a good deal more sweating than either Jennifer or I in our single day excursions.

Jennifer will be going to have lunch and reconnect with some of the hockey players she coached some forty years ago. She is looking forward to reconnecting with these girls who are now middle aged  women and some of whom she has not seen since they played on the team she coached. In this case also part of this planned luncheon is the result of people appreciating the time someone dedicated to teaching life lessons through teamwork. As it turns out the luncheon is a conflict with the family reunion I will be attending the same day.

So I get to represent our clan by myself this year. Our family reunion is a bit confusing in that almost everyone there is somehow connected by our less than common surname. That name has been around for a long time as names in this country go and figuring out how we're all related is part of the fun. It will be a fun day of catching up on what folks have been doing and, of course, eating more than one should on any given day. Carrying on in the tradition my dad started, I try to make some item to be raffled off to build the treasury for future reunions. This year it's a pretty simple bench that grew out of a small slab of cedar that my dad figured might make something some day. So with thoughts of him and all the others who have completed this side of the journey, I'll be off to see all the others fulfilling that need to reconnect.

Thanking Dad

When I was in my teens, my father worked as a woodwork installation foreman for a couple different woodworking shops. His job was to hire carpenters and supervise installation of merchandise displays and such in stores, banks or other commercial buildings. The work generally kept him on the road and that meant seeing him, for the most part, on weekends. Knowing he would be home for a couple days, generally meant being ready to help with all the projects that accumulated and needed attention before Dad had to head back to wherever it was that the current job was going on. Looking back, I'm amazed at the energy that schedule required. One summer, we built a house for my grandparents. Pretty much, sunup to sundown, Saturday and Sunday and maybe a little bit on Friday night we built a house. It never occurred to me that maybe Dad would have preferred to have a "regular" job so weekends wouldn't be so intense.

Only when I graduated from college did the situation change. Dad stopped working on jobs that required being away most of the time. It was about that time when I began to question, "Why in the world did he choose to 'abandon' Mom and me and then try to cram all the stuff he missed into a couple days each week?" Silly, immature, self-centered me; it was all because he wanted to be sure that I got the education he had been " asured" he as incapable of achieving. His motives had to do with making more money; but only because he wanted to give me something he felt he had been denied. That explained why this man who was pretty critical of anything I ever did was so much less upset than I expected him to be when I nearly flunked out. When I needed it most, he encouraged me and had faith in me and assured me that things would work out.

There is a beautiful analogy here. We all have a Father who watches us grow and encourages us even though we are unsure of what we are doing. Some who may read this may not have had an earthly father like mine who wanted more than anything else to help them along. I ask all who might read this to take heart. Even though you may toy with thoughts of being abandoned, your Father in Heaven has you right where He wants you. Just as Dad had great plans for me so God has plans for you. He would not have brought you into existence were that not the case. Get to know Him better and become who He designed you to be. There are no adequate words to thank someone who loves you so much. I am so blessed and can simply say, "Thanks Dad and Dad."

Mighty Mouse Encounter

Sorry I have been so lax in putting some nonsense up for your reading pleasure in a while. Our church is without a pastor at this time and I have found myself a bit busier than usual. I will try to get a little more regular with posts. Maybe that is the new alliteration, "Post or Perish".

As reported before, our material for the wood shop comes mostly from local trees that we mill ourselves and, as with all wood working, I look forward to firing up the sawmill for the season each year, grateful for the fact that I don't have to do that part of the process during the freezing part of year. I was so delighted to find that the engine on the mill was as anxious to get going as I was and started right up. The engine drives the blade and keeps the battery charged. But the rest of the operation is either electrical or hydraulic powered.

The mill head moved along nicely and when the hydraulics were being tried out, just as suspected, things were moving along much too smoothly. Although the motor that drives the hydraulic pump was working the stuff that is supposed to move when the control levers are moved sat disgustingly still. Adding hydraulic oil didn't make much difference. It was then that I saw oil running out of places where it isn't supposed to. It was obvious that a hydraulic hose had broken and oil was going where it had no business going.

It turns out that a mouse, or maybe several, had taken up residence in the main hollow tube that constitutes the mail frame of the mill and serves as the conduit for the first twelve feet of all the hydraulic hoses. Why a mouse would see fit to chew on hydraulic hoses is beyond me. But chew he (she, they) did. Chewing through the outer rubber part is bad enough. But one hose was nearly severed meaning that the little bugger ate through the steel part as well; must have had carbide teeth.  In any event, repairs have been made and although we're starting a little later than usual, we'll be turning trees into two by fours once more.

Chips Off The Old Blockhead

As anyone who has followed my attempts here on Out of the Woodwork knows, I try to keep a positive attitude about life in general. Understand, it's not a matter of overlooking the bad stuff that seems to happen. It is instead being appreciative for what is and making an attempt to improve things where that is possible. One of the ways we can do that is to check now and again to see if, because of the way we live, anything is better than it might have otherwise been. Having been blessed with two sons, I get a chance to check out pretty regularly what they are up to and wonder what my influence may have brought about. This is tricky stuff. Much of what the boys, if 40 plus year olds are considered boys, have become has not so much to do with me as to the decisions they have made. Never the less, they watched me for clues and there's the genetics thing that may have had some influence.

When I consider all the potential places where my sons could have gotten off track and gone in directions that I would call undesirable, I feel doubly blessed. We're not talking about perfection here. Perfection is in another realm. As I consider how things have turned out, it seems obvious that somewhere, some how being appreciative for what they have and being unselfish with it has steered much of their decision making. So, just like Dad, they recognize that things don't always go the way you think they should. But along with that comes the realization that embracing life is too important to concentrate on the negative stuff. Something that has been helpful to me in this matter of positiveness and that I would hope the good folks who might be reading this would find helpful is this piece of truth from the greatest truth teller ever. In the Book of John, Jesus tells us,"In this world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer, for I have overcome this world." So friends, be of good cheer. The bad stuff will always be in the world, but we've been promised something beyond and better than this world.

Where Are They Now?

When someone dabbles in woodwork and makes stuff for as long as I have, some of those projects get some mileage on them. I know that some cutting boards I made and some wooden eggs are half way around the world. Cutting boards are a favorite hostess gift and it seems that a practical thing like that is generally appreciated. My wife asked for wooden eggs to hand out to folks on a mission trip to Kenya. Here again the egg, a symbol for life, made from something that was once alive was appreciated and they got distributed far and wide. There is great satisfaction in knowing something you have done has positively affected another and the distance some of these little projects traveled makes it even more interesting. How what we do affects other folks should be of utmost concern for all of us and now and again I get a story that would indicate that, at least occasionally, I have been helpful. One of those stories came along in the last twenty-four hours.

I love Facebook. I probably spend too much time scrolling along checking on the things my friends find worthy of posting. But the connections that have been made with folks I might never have heard from again is my favorite part. Last night as I logged on there was a message from someone whose name I didn't recognize. I didn't recognize the name because she was a former student and, as might be expected, now has a different last name. What she had to say nearly brought me to tears, "You were, hands down, my all time favorite teacher." She added, "I still use the dining table I made in your class." Turns out that after graduation, her life was filled with tribulation. But she discovered that positive thinking can turn lemons into lemon ice cream. I know, I know that's not how the saying goes. She discovered a way to make good choices and now is in the business of helping others put the pieces back together. You might enjoy her web site.

When all is said and done, all we have is our interaction with other people. We never can be quite sure if what we do for another is helpful. Sometimes a lot of years pass before we hear if our attempts were appreciated. Although when I had Cindy in class all those years ago my Christian faith was shaky to say the least, there was still a stirring that reminded me, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." It's a good idea and other that loving His Father more than anything else, it's the only thing Christ asks of us.

Aw Nuts

Many of you know about my involvement with The American Chestnut Foundation. I started an experimental Chestnut orchard two years ago in the hopes of being one small cog in the large gear of developing a blight resistant American Chestnut strain. My wife Jennifer and I with the help of several friends planted 200 nuts. Only a little over half of those germinated, probably due to improper storage over the winter. I've included a photo of the tallest result of that planting that is almost five feet tall already. The grower who supplied the nuts got his storage system corrected and provided replacement nuts for the ones that never came up. He will do so again this year and that will probably be the last attempt to get all 200 spots showing a viable tree. In a few years our trees will be intentionally exposed to the blight and the reality is that most of them will die as a result. I know; you're thinking "Nuts"; right? All this time and energy to produce a bunch of dry,brittle, dead trees worth nothing more than a bit of fire wood kindling.

The good news is that there's a pretty good chance that a few (10% or less) of the trees will show resistance to the blight and produce nuts carrying the genetic properties of the parent tree and providing seed for the next generation. As with all our endeavors, only our Maker knows the outcome. Our orchard puts me in mind of the valley of dry bones which the prophet Ezekiel speaks of in the Book named for him. Perhaps out of the dry bones of trees that don't make it will come a rattling that comes to life and helps reestablish the wonderful trees the value of which my father and grandfather often spoke. Is it nuts to think that life can come from something dying? Isn't that what always is required? Almost from the time of the first Schoonovers in this country a common name in the family was Ezekiel. I can't help but think that may be a sign.

Transition

Knowing that you have been created for a purpose is essential to begin the process of answering the question, "What am I here for?" That question and the universal need to answer it, at least by the sober in our midst, requires input from those with whom we associate and especially those with understanding of how we are to seek the answer. The last seventeen plus years, the pastor of our church has helped me tremendously with the business of finding purpose. The fact that he has recently felt called to serve elsewhere leaves me, and others, with a mix of emotions that can only come when the nature of a relationship comes to an end. At that point, knowing that things will never be same, we need to evaluate what has happened and use what we have learned to move forward.

To say I will miss the man who has encouraged me to seek purpose over these seventeen years is quite the understatement. It makes me pause to appreciate the way many others have done a similar thing. My decision to make a ministry of woodworking through "Out of the Woodwork" would not likely have happened had it not been for the interaction with many people, some of whom I can thank only in my prayers at this point. Ministry in whatever form it takes allows us to fulfill the purpose for which we were created. The catch is, we have to do it with people, messed up,imperfect, sinful people; just like ourselves. My pastor, soon to be the pastor elsewhere, has modeled how to do that for me and those that will remain and continue to be the church. Take time to thank those who are doing likewise for you and if you happen to be reading this and are unsure of who those people are, slow down, observe the humble servants around you, and realize they are likely serving for the best of reasons; Jesus asked them to.

Less Than 1/3 Of One Percent

Well now, how did we do with making those New Year's resolutions? At this time of year, nearly everyone either consciously or unconsciously makes the decision to do something that they have been putting off. Part of the difficulty with resolutions is that we usually resolve to do something that will take a while to accomplish. When we get several days or weeks or more into the new year and the goal has not been achieved, discouragement sets in and the rationalization about why what we hoped for isn't happening begins. Maybe it would be helpful to understand that the small steps necessary to take a long journey need to be taken pretty much one at a time. Being content with small advancement is the key to actually achieving the intention of our resolutions.

As I write this, day one of 2015 is nearly over. Rather than consider how far I need to go to make my resolutions reality, I'm going to consider how far I should expect to be at any given point in the year. Most things we resolve to do are not things that happened quickly (that twenty pounds I hope to lose didn't get gained overnight and it won't be lost that way either). Assuming  a resolution to change may take all year (I know, I know. Who has all year?), then I need to consider how far down the road toward the goal I should be. One day out of three hundred sixty-five in 2015 is over. I should be 1/365 of the way to completing the change I set out to make.

The catch, of course, is that we're talking less than one third of one percent when we consider the fractional part of the year one day comprises. Actually, my resolution for the last several years has been the same and probably will be for the remaining New Years with which I may be blessed. I resolve to try to be more Christ-like in my life. Does that have anything to do with Out of the Woodwork? Of course it does; because that is one place where I will continue to interact with other people and that is where being Christ-like becomes possible. No matter what your hopes for the New Year may be, understand that it doesn't take much to get 1/365 of the way to the goal. In the case of resolving to follow Christ, the journey on this side can never be complete. He is perfect and I will never be. His grace and love will sustain any who choose to follow Him and if I can get the distance between Him and me just 1/365 closer, it was good day. May all who may take time to read my ramblings have a blessed year ... one day at a time.