Here go a few:
I am helping plant a church.
Helped to build a church.
Struggled through learning to run again.
Re-inspired to do stuff around the house.
Huh... seemed like more.
Oh wait... gained like 50 pounds. That's gonna make running easier I'm sure.
-----------------------------------
Planting the church has been amazing. Watching and helping the Church at Southside begin and grow has opened my eyes to God more than probably anything yet. I will say this to anyone at TCAS, but there's no doubt in me that man is not responsible for Christianity making it this far across this much of the globe. We're still small and our individual desires still occasionally clash, I can't imagine trying to wield a large church to do His will. Only God could pull that off.
Kinda like building one. My wife started going with the Mobile Baptist Builders about ten years ago. When we met and began our future together she talked, a lot, about them. Because of planning for our marriage and then job requirements, she wasn't able to go in '11 or '12, but we both wanted to go this year. So last month she and I drove up to Tennessee to the little town known as Speedwell. I think I heard right that the team that went up to work was between 2 and 3 times the size of the church. We walked onto an empty concrete slab on the first day, and 5 work days later left with a two story building, 80% of the roof decked, virtually all the roof trusses up; I can't even fathom how many nails we put in that place! Oh! and a 40+ foot bell tower above the second story! When we started the first day, we were all circled around each other and I just had this definite thought run through my head:
-
Nehemiah 4:2 (ESV)
And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, "What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?"
At TCAS, we had just finished a series reading through Nehemiah; the thought of what "these feeble Jews" were able to accomplish with the power of God staggered me. Having been a part of an MBB build, I can tell you it still happens today. There were 4-5 real contractors out there, a few more who "knew" what they were doing, and lots and lots of people just wanting to be there and be helpful. I think we witnessed a pretty amazing thing.
 |
| We began on Saturday |
 |
| We ended with this on Thursday |
Learning to run again has been tough. I think more than anything the hardest part is I'm out of the habit. Waking up early to run just isn't as easy as I seem to remember it being. Forcing myself to skip lunch (don't worry, I still eat) so I have time to run after work feels ludicrous these days. Maybe that's like everything else... the less you use it, the faster it slips away? But I have to add, I think I'm getting old. My body feels ragged for some reason. I have to stretch and pop and unfold anytime I've been sitting for more than a few minutes. I strained my back a couple of weeks ago in the bedroom (moving furniture!!). This getting old thing is for the birds...
Man... I need a nap.
So kinda of recounting just those few things seems pretty tiring. No wonder I'm beat all the time!
I'll say this about the MBB trip. It was amazing, I can't wait to go again, and man I don't know how people do that for a living! I couldn't get feeling back in my hands for weeks! Doing stuff around my house is just going to have to wait...
Thanks for reading and all the encouragement in my silence for the last few months.
No comments:
Post a Comment