September 7 - “Wielding the tools”

Well, yesterday was probably the most tiring day I’ve had in a very long time. We started the process of replacing our fences damaged back in Hurricane Beryl. 

Before 8 a.m., Chris and I were outside. We moved and stacked up pavers from the side of the house. Yep. Heavy stuff. But it was necessary so that we could move the shed out of the way of the fence project. She ended up mowing the backyard (and discovering no less than three really big ant beds. One of them unleashed all sorts of fury upon her. I took over the mowing while she cleared her feet of a few thousand red devils. I also finally managed to heave the shed out from the side of the house and relocate it. After one small adjustment both doors worked just fine. They haven’t even been staying on since the storm. 

Kel’s family came later in the morning and we all took our marching orders from our Big Boss - Nathan. Micah and Josiah and Christina joined in the fence demolishing task. So did our neighbor, Taylor. Kel and Noa took shifts cutting at that tree and digging around the roots. Ezra tried out just about every tool he could find. I mean he wielded a hand saw, machete, shovel, hammer, hoe, and yes, even a sawzall (under Dad’s supervision, of course).  Oh, and Taylor surprised us all by ordering pizza for lunch. 

Before the day was done we had the fences down, and the ornery tree that had grown through the middle of the chain link fence was cut down (Thanks for the big chain saw and even bigger muscles, John Luza. You are a good friend). Nathan hooked the large stump to his truck and dragged it to the street. All is ready for the materials delivery tomorrow. I already received the text letting me know the delivery window. Ready for this one? “Sometime between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m.” Sure hope it’s closer to the first time, or we will lose a whole day of work. 

‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭ says, Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and with all propriety, the younger women as sisters.

Father, thank you for the dry window so we could get the fences down. Now we need more dry weather to get the posts set and later the actual fence up. Amen.