Board? Sure. Bored? Never.

At Out of the Woodwork, the ministry of woodworking that has been going on for several years now, there is a lot of lumber that comes into the shop and gets turned into practical (usually) items. The transition from a board (or sometimes a pile of them) to a usable item can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few weeks. Although we try to schedule extra time if possible, we regularly meet in the shop only twice a week, three hours each time. So the process from board to whatever can take quite awhile. This seems to work for the folks who keep showing up and the virtue of patience is pretty much in evidence. A good outcome of this work awhile and then come back later allows for considerable thinking to go on between sessions, usually resulting in a better end product than if it was done for eight hours every day.

The thinking that surrounds woodworking is almost as rewarding as the woodworking itself. That thinking may start as early as when a board is first run through the planer (often the first step in making rough lumber into usable boards). Checking to see what that finished surface looks like often changes ones mind about how the board will be used. The fact that most boards have a look all their own and the shape of knots and grain pattern say, "Use me for that table top," or  "Wouldn't I look great in the middle of a cutting board?". Amazing how an inanimate thing like wood can stir the circuitry in this computer we call a brain. Each time that happens, another project idea comes to mind and soon sketches and drawings are made so the idea doesn't get lost in that computer's overworked hard drive.

I have reached that uncomfortable age where I'm pretty sure the projects I have in mind (or on paper due to the aforementioned overworked hard drive)  are too numerous for the years I have left. I suppose this could be considered a somber idea, knowing you will die with some things definitely worth doing being undone. But that is not the way to look at the situation. We are assured that we know not the time we will leave our earthly existence and we have been blessed to create a lot of projects with the material we have been given. Knowing that the ideas for things to do will outlast the time we have in which to do them means no boredom, no thinking, "There's nothing to do," And when the projects are ended, there should be no sadness for any woodworker or anyone else who has placed their trust in Jesus Christ. He has promised us an eternity of being with Him, in happiness beyond anything we can imagine. At this point I can't imagine something more pleasing than turning a tree into a table. I think Jesus understands that. After all, He is a carpenter. Do you suppose He has a woodworking shop in that eternal place He has promised?