Michigan Hurricane Season

So I am through the rigors of my rough-in inspection. No bribes needed to be given, no first born children needed to be offered, and the township and I are at peace with one another.

So maybe I got myself worked up over nothing. I mean, I was sweating it. I was sick to my stomach worried about this silly inspection. I was so afraid the inspector would come in with his cloak and sickle, remove the dark hood from his head revealing two glowing lights where eyes should be, pull out his magnifying glass and start looking at the wood grain of every board I used. "Hmm, this species of spruce reaches maturity later than I would like, replace this board with a freshly hewn stud from a forest in Northern Michigan. This one is clearly from Indiana and doesn't pass code here." So off I would go with my axe into the forests of northern Michigan, looking for that one perfect pine to bring home on the hood of my Taurus and harvest into acceptable lumber for my family room.

I thought he might bring in his tape measure and measure every space between every stud, rafter, and floor joist. I was prepared to spend the afternoon drawing charts and diagrams and taking down measurements to fix the one rafter that is off by 1/2". I was ready to haul a load of concrete block underneath the house when he changed his mind and decided that due to new code requirements, the span of my floor was now 2" too long.

I was prepared for all of this. And, of course in case he came in and said, "No, the roof is all wrong. Take it off and start again." I was prepared with a can of lighter fluid, a match, and a really good cover story.

As it was, he was here for maybe 7 or 8 minutes. We chit-chatted about the weather and the drum set sitting conspicuously in the laundry room (I mean really, who keeps a drum set in the laundry room?) He pointed out the ventilation I needed to install, and said he would have to check his books to see if I could use one jack stud for the patio door header instead of the usual two (oops.) Then he kind of frowned and said, "You don't have any hurricane straps."

Now in my defense, I have lived in this wonderful state for over 5 years now. Hurricanes in the last five years? Zero. So while I understand the concept behind them, and fully intended on installing them just in case they were required, I couldn't figure out how to attach them due to my less than conventional rafters.

He gave me a couple ideas on how to install them and he was on his way, but insisted they would need to be up before he came back to inspect again. So, I took his advice and installed my little 8" by 2" pieces of metal on every rafter. I am now confident that if the wind blew hard enough that my entire roof were about to lift off like a kite (the shingles alone weigh literally more than a ton), my little pieces of metal would hold it securely in place.

The next day the guy called back and informed that I could "get away" with the single jack stud under the patio door header. This was extremely good new, seeing as how replacing that header with one that was 3 inches longer would be an enormously longer project than I was looking for at that particular time.

So with Hurricane season nearing its end, we are safe and secure in our inspected and now insulated family room addition. Now comes drywall - and the best news of all...

No more inspections until it is all done:)

The Long Wait

Tomorrow between 2:30 and 4:30. It is the moment I have both longed for and dreaded for the past few months. It is time to face the building inspector.

Tomorrow is my rough-in inspection. Rather, I should say my first rough-in inspection. I'm going to go ahead and say that I'm not going to pass, that he is going to red flag all kinds of stuff for me to fix, so that way I don't get my hopes up and get too excited about moving on and getting insulation installed or anything.

It is a two-edged sword, because this has to be done in order to move on and finish the project, but at the same time he has the power to say say, "No, why don't you take the whole roof off and start over again." OK, that is probably extreme, but the thought of a guy going around with a tape measure and a fine toothed comb examining my building job, that's a little scary.

You could argue that it is for my own good, and that if I did it correctly I don't have anything to worry about. You could also argue that if I did something incorrectly I should want to know about it and make corrections so that the building is strong and lasts and is a good investment.

This is true, but it sure is a lot easier to just put the material together in whatever way I can make it fit, and call it good. I'd rather be able to fudge it a bit and not have to worry about the codes and regulations. That would make the whole thing go a lot faster, that is for sure.

So tomorrow my hobby as an amateur builder goes on display for the building inspector for the first time.

It kind of makes me think - I wonder if that's why people want to keep God at a distance, why they try to avoid church and anything that smacks of religious significance. Is it because they get this perception that God is some kind of cosmic building inspector who combs through your life and garbage looking for mistakes that he can point out and make you try to repair?

We might argue that this is for your own good, that correcting the messes that we've made in our amateur approach to spirituality will only lead to a stronger, healthier you with more self-worth and confidence then you have now.

We might argue that, but it doesn't make it any easier. Who wants to go through the microscope? Who wants to be exposed to such scrutiny and testing? Not me. I'm sitting here sweating an inspection of my own tomorrow - and that's only for a building. I mean, think about the comparison in investment. Ya, there is a lot of money invested in my family room project, but how much more of an investment is it for me to try to lead my own soul? A mistake in my house could cost me thousands of dollars, but what would a mistake in my spirit cost me?

I don't think that God is a cosmic building inspector. I don't think that he has a giant stack of red stickers ready to place them all over our spiritual life. There might be a time and place for that, and he definitely does correct us, but I don't think that he makes a list of demands and says, "fix these things and I'll be back on Thursday." That's not who God is. A relationship with God is not contingent on cleaning up a bunch of messes and satisfying a list of rules. I think that there are things he points out to us that he wants us to change, places he wants to inspire us to grow, but these things are always our choice. Our freewill always comes into play here and we say, "Have your own way, God" or God says to us, "Have it your own way." It's just that it is much better to have it God's way, isn't it?

So here I sit, waiting for the building inspector. I'm really stressing out about it. I know that he is going to find fault with something. There will be something that he wants changed or fixed, and I guess I will fix it and move on. And afterwards - well afterwards there is a prize in store for me. It is in the form of a new family room, a place for my family to spend time together, and the first time we will have a room in our house in which more than 4 people can sit comfortably. If I can just keep that in mind, it will be worth the effort and scrutiny.

Will God find fault with me? I know that there are things in my life that have to be changed, places I amateurishly threw a few scraps together and called it good. Do I want God to expose those places and deal with them? Do I want to keep my eye on the prize at the life that God has in store for me?

I guess you'd have to ask me tomorrow:)

The Office

So I have to admit that I watched "The Office" last week. It's one of those weird kind of shows that I can't really put my finger on. It is not exactly funny, at least not in the traditional sense of funny. You don't laugh when you watch it, you only laugh later when you think about it. Kind of like "Spinal Tap" or "A Mighty Wind" or something along those lines.

Anyway, last week I did laugh out loud at one scene. There is a character in the show who is fairly reserved and kind of a pain. Last week they were playing a game of what three books would you want to have with you on a desert Island.

Her answer - "The Bible." "Well, you still get two more" they told her.
"Ok, The Purpose Driven Life." was her answer. "Ok, you still have one more."
"No thanks, that's it."

OK, now when Steve Carell or John Stewart pokes fun at Christians, they usually poke fun at Christian culture - not the faith itself. And you know what? Just like this instance, they are often dead on. That the conservative Christian community believes that the end all and be all of ALL Christian literature of ALL TIME consists of one book written in the last few years - that to me is hilarious. Not because Purpose Driven Life isn't a good book, it is a huge success for Rick Warren and has done a lot of good for a lot of people.

Think about it - Warren is like the Bill Gates of the church. You know, if you own a PC, you are running a program from Bill Gates. Well, if you are involved in a church, then chances are you are running a program of Warren's as well. The funny thing about that is that it doesn't matter even what denomination you are a part of. Methodist, Presbyterian, EV Free, etc... It doesn't make much difference anymore, because everybody is still reading the Purpose Driven Life. Somebody asked one of my professors, "Who is the most influential preacher in the Restoration Movement?" His answer - "Rick Warren." Forget the fact that Rick Warren is not a PART of the Restoration movement, he still has an enormous influence there.

I think that all of this points toward a positive trend, and even if I have been poking a little fun here, I don't mean any harm by it. The Church, the Church with a capital "C", the universal body of Christ seems to be focusing more on what unites it than on what divides it. And that is a very big positive. That there are teachings and methodologies that apply any time, any where and a Methodist minister and a Lutheran pastor can sit down and talk about small groups and connection events and share strategies - well that's just cool.

Even though there is a part of me that is too anti-establishment to really jump for joy when one preacher seems to dominate the popular Christian culture, I think there is still a lot of value there. I just have to laugh when even Hollywood notices.

how many kids?

OK, before we had a child I remember thinking 3 was a pretty good number for how many children to have. I think my wife (though she now denies this) originally started saying about 5 was a good number. Well, now that we have one, we think that one is a wonderful number. That is not to say that we don't plan on having more again in the future sometime - but we are in no hurry and are enjoying just being the three of us.

I only reflect on this because of this article I just read - Click here to check it out for yourself - 16 kids and counting...

Dude - that's nuts.

Something different

I'm sitting here listening to Shawn McDonald's live album. I have to tell you, I LOVE hearing somebody who is different. Shawn had some success with his last album, he got some radio airplay with the single "Gravity."

I saw Shawn open for David Crowder about a year ago. It was funny, because the first band to play was a big rock band. They had the full on rock sound going, very loud and very big. Then Shawn comes out with just his guitar. I thought, "No way this guy is going to follow that and open for Crowder with just a guitar." I have to tell you, Shawn stole the entire show for me that night. I liked his music and presentation better than anybody else who played that concert.

The only problem I was having is that hearing him live is awesome because it showcases his gritty, honest vocals so well. But his album was produced and slick, and I think it lost some of its power. Now that he has a "Live in Seattle" album out you can hear what it sounds like at a Shawn McDonald concert - and that is awesome.

Shawn is actually one of the reasons I bought an MP3 player - I get tired of the sounds coming from the radio after a while. The "top 40" style that the CCM machine cranks out kind of blurs together and becomes background noise. That's what makes something so different sound so very refreshing.

If you haven't checked out this guy yet, pick up his live album. It's just him and his guitar, and maybe a cello and backup vocal scattered here and there.

worthy words

Jeremiah 15:19 is like one of my theme verses. You know those verses or quotes that just seem to sum up what you want your life to be about like nothing else seems to be able to? That's what this verse is to me.

Therefore this is what the Lord says:
If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me;
If you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman.
Let this people turn to you, but you must not turn to them.

The only way to be a spokesman for God is to speak words that are worthy. Think about the words that you use everyday. Would they be considered worthy or worthless?

I have this thing about talking - I don't do a lot of it. In a social situation, I prefer to sit and listen to what other people are saying. Do you know what I hear? Not much. Most of the subjects of conversation I hear don't amount to much. There is talk about the weather, sports, road construction, politics, stories about this or that, TV shows. So much of the content of our conversation is about things that won't matter a month from now, much less years from now.

No wonder we have so much trouble hearing God in the world around us. Where are His spokesmen? We are so busy talking about things that won't live past the day, that there is hardly any room to talk about the things that really matter.

It's a reminder to me that if I want to make any kind of difference in my generation, I'd better make sure that the things that come out of my mouth are worth saying, things that not only I consider to be worthy, but things that ultimately God thinks are worth saying.

Cry out

Psalm 34: 17-18
The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

So last night I got in bed about 10:30. It never fails that no sooner do I close my eyes than I begin to hear a soft cry coming from my son's room across the hall. He starts quietly and we wait to see if it is just a moment that will pass and he will fall back to sleep, or if we is really awake and will escalate into a full blown cry.

Last night the cry got louder and louder, kind of winding up and down, getting louder and softer. Well, by now these two parents can sleep through a pretty loud cry and let the boy simply go back to sleep on his own. But last night Aiden said the two magic words that work every single time.

"Mommma... Daaaddy..."

OK, we surrender. Katie pops right up and goes to his room, scoops him up in her arms and brings him back into our bed where he falls peacefully to sleep in between us. We can hold out through crying, but we are total suckers when he starts asking for Momma and Daddy.

You know what though? I wouldn't change it. I want my boy to ask for me when he is scared, or tired and just can't fall asleep. If he just laid there and thought, "I'm going to get through this my own self, I'll talk myself out of being scared or tired" I would be heartbroken. I want him to ask for me, I want to bring him into our room where it is safe and I want him to snuggle up next to me and fall peacefully asleep.

"For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry "Abba, Father." " - Rom 8:15