Snow began falling gently on the Great American Desert about noon today. That is when I began the process of converting the old dining room window that originally faced south into an entrance that will one day take a few steps down into our new kitchen. Time passed rather swiftly as I employed several saws, a variety of hammers and a cornucopia of chisels, pry bars, wrecking bars and assorted tools to demolish the area(with great care, of course)while preserving the integrity of the ancient(100 years)oak flooring and support timbers. Only one of the original studs had to be cut off, all of the rest that went was window framing. Time slipped by and by 5 pm I was seated in a chair almost to the front window that now faces the rising sun, taking a break and looking at the change. I suppose I have pictures of that window before it was removed from that same angle(I must have at least a thousand pics of this project so far)before the arch was cut in place. The thought was originally to match up the arch between the living room and dining room with the opening to the addition. I was absolutely amazed at the accuracy of the measurements I made for the cuts weeks ago, and the manner in which the lines came together on both sides to complete the opening. Just for your information, I'm not that great at this stuff, but my boss is. He has been giving carpenters directions on how to build stuff for thousands of years. Sometimes a bit of my faith perspective may come off as sounding "trite" but believe me it comes from a combination of heart and mind that believe and trust completely that what I am doing is according to God's plans and if I am ever uncertain He will tell me for sure that is not the way it works. Noah had many doubts, but no uncertainties that what he was doing had to be done. God's only Son was raised by a carpenter and then at the age of thirty went into ministry. His only lasted three years but it accomplished more than we can ever thank Him for, or His Father in heaven.
As the light began to fade I headed for home through what had now become a full blown blizzard. Visibility was down to about the length of a football field. I won't go on any further tonight. We are "under the gun" with storms coming through. Power is out at my daughter's house about 6 miles east, and eldest grandson is going to stay in town tonight with "grandpa & grandma." I'm sure he's excited about being here. For me it is a grin, we know for certain that he is safe and sound, well fed, and entertained(Cheryl just mentioned using the remote to order one of those pay for view movies. I wonder if she knows just what is available on this satellite thing?)for the evening. I'm also thankful for the progress of the work and the energy that I have been granted for doing it. Some of this stuff was way easier 20 years ago. In Christ's Love, Preacher.
