January 12 – “Getting un-warped”

Well, it's cold outside.  I don't mean "Galveston cold."  That would be somewhere in the fifties.  But I don't mean frozen wastelands cold either.  That would be below zero.  But for Gilligan's Island, it's cold today.  When I got WeatherBug up on the computer it was 30 degrees.  That's pipe-wrapping, foot-stomping, winter-coat-wearing cold.  If it's gonna be this cold it should go ahead and snow to give the kids – well, us kids – something fun to do outside.    I have to check on our warped board today.  It's the last piece in the new shelving puzzle we started on last week.  The shelves themselves are already up and running – cut, painted, hung, and loaded down.  The warped board is a finishing touch Chris envisioned as a sideboard to the whole thing.  It would look good, too, if wasn't so warped.  We tried several approaches to straightening it.  First we just put it on the floor in the garage and left it overnight.  That didn't do any good at all.  The next attempt was to add a heavy box on top so it would be forced to lie flat.  That didn't really work either.  Then I had a brainstorm.  I put some small pieces of wood under each end, and then put the heavy box in the middle so it would be forced to sit the opposite way for awhile.  Now that actually worked a little bit.  There was still some warping at one end, though, so I moved both the blocks to one end and replaced the box.  I'm anxious to see if that worked.  I guess it will never be perfectly straight, but it will hopefully be close enough that we can use it to fulfill the purpose Chris has envisioned.   It's amazing to think about how much trouble we're going to just to straighten out one piece of wood.  It would be so much easier to just go buy another piece.  Hmm.  Kind of humbles me, too.  Reminds me of how much trouble God goes to to get us goofy kids of His straightened out enough so we can be of use to accomplish his purposes.  Glad he doesn't just toss us and go create another piece.  That's gotta be evidence of his love.   Philippians 2:13 says, "for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."   Father, thanks for not giving up on me.  And thanks for the "straightening process" even when it hurts.  Amen.