Thank you for joining us!
Before we begin, I wanted to share a Comment Highlight from Monday’s discussion question:
shared…A lovely and timely devotional. I always feel the need to pray more. Give thanks more. Be with family more. September 3rd is the anniversary of my mother’s death (2021), so a new urgency has come about. Better health. More 🍁
I want to extend my condolences, Jocelyn, and also to thank you for this powerful reminder to all of us. Your vulnerability with this message has blessed me, and I’m sure it will bless others who read it here!
How To Stack Firewood
When we first moved to this property, we were charmed by the woodstove in the living room corner. The previous owners had not used it much in the most recent years, as they were getting older and the idea of gathering firewood and maintaining the stove was becoming less and less accessible to them. Instead, they told us that they used the electric baseboard heaters. That first winter, we did, too.
But the funny thing about a house pushing forty years old is that the wiring isn’t what it used to be, and the baseboards started acting funny pretty quickly after we moved in. So we turned our attention to the woodstove, and we’ve never looked back.
We heat our house exclusively with firewood, now. We’re blessed that the stove is very efficient, and that we have our system down to an art. And while for us the woodstove is a practical tool, there truly is a romantic simplicity about a crackling fire in the gloom of late December.
But to have a successful winter of woodstove burning, you need firewood, and plenty of it. While we’re fortunate that our stove burns efficiently and we don’t need to feed it constantly, it still requires a fair amount of wood to keep us going well into March, sometimes April or even early May.
So summer is all about gathering, chopping, seasoning, rotating, and stacking our firewood for the year. It can feel like a monumental task.
Here, I have to hold up my husband for admiration. He leads the charge on the acquisition and chopping. But me? I do the stacking.
Stacking firewood is one of my favorite tasks. I find it incredibly meditative, like a giant puzzle. I love planning where each piece will go, making sure that it fits just right with the row below it. I love the feeling when it’s done, the shed full of neat columns of seasoned firewood, winter’s warmth prepared.
And how do you stack firewood? That’s easy: one piece at a time.
There really isn’t a shortcut, except to have multiple people all stacking at the same time. But even then, they would probably just get in each other’s way. The only way to stack firewood is to take it one stick at a time, making sure you’re careful about where you put it. If you’re not careful, the stack will be rickety, like a Jenga tower. No one wants to have a pile of firewood fall on them in the middle of winter when they’re loading the wheelbarrow. That’s not a good time.
Is it slow going? Sometimes. But when you stand back and see the stack take shape, you realize that it’s worth the time.
Not to push the metaphor, here, but our days are the same way. There really isn’t a shortcut for moving through life. The way you do anything well is one step at a time, back and forth, back and forth, until you arrive. You try something, it doesn’t work, so you move it somewhere else. Over time, you learn the best ways to do things. But it takes time, and that’s good.
No matter what you’re doing, right now, no matter what you’re hoping to improve in, or what you’re just trying to get through, or wherever you’re hoping to go…take it one step at a time. There’s no shortcut. But when you look, you’ll see that it was worth the time.
Benediction
May the God Who Guides remind us that there are no shortcuts.
May He illuminate each step as we journey onward, ever onward.
May we look back and see only the beauty of time well spent.
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We had a MASSIVE pecan tree come down inches away from our house about two weeks ago. Seriously, the tree missed our house and powerline by inches. Only some small damage to our back deck. Praise God for that protection.
Given my situation this is a very timely devotion. With the help of some friends, I've spent multiple hours recently just logging and cutting the tree limbs and branches into manageable sizes to eventually split to store or giveaway.
But this 200+ year old tree has truly been a true source of providence. Providing me a free source of exercise in operating a chainsaw and moving the logs. Providing me a time of fellowship, inviting several men from my town over who've freely given their time to help me clean up the debris. AND providing me a connection to the land I find myself on. I'm responsible for the shepherding of this once living tree into its next acts of service. Instead of providing us food (pecans) and comfort (shade), the three will eventually give light and warmth as we warm ourselves and loved ones around an autumn/ winter fire. And then the ashes will go back into the compost and continue to help fertilize our garden. God's cycle of creation is truly marvelous and never-ending.
Had a woodstove growing up. Great and terrible memories haha. I was the only son in my house so I was stackin, rackin, fire-startin, and occasionally smoke-out-the-basement-ing.