Log House

I live in a log house. It's origins lie back, long before the Roman civilization. Log cabins were constructed by people living in cold climates, near forests. Their size originally was limited to the length of available straight trees. They were considered primitive structures for basic shelter. When better materials and tools became available, folks built fancier houses and the cabins were relegated to animal shelters, storage and slave homes.

My log house was built twelve years ago with the help of Tim Kahn and friends. It is MUCH different than early log cabins with many modern features and conveniences. Although it requires maintenance, surveillance and repairs as any other structure, it is much more secure than those early cabins.

I choose to live in this log house. It wasn't what I set out to do - a childhood dream.. I never heard of or saw a modern log home until I married my husband Ron and traveled to Colorado and ski country. My knowledge was based on Lincoln logs and books. But when we decided to build a home of our own and move out to the country, our investigations, looking at home plans and talk with friends who were builders, led us to choose a log home. We have been building since 1999 and are still not finished!

Living in a log home as given me a different perspective on life. I've learned that beauty has so much structure and work underpinning that beauty. The work takes so much more than anyone who hasn't done it can imagine. I've mostly learned this from watching my husband as he has labored over every single inch of this house, from the ground up.

You see, the gifts and talents I have are overshadowed by a certain lack of patience. I can grasp concepts from a book, do something from a picture and get the general gist of things fairly quickly. I have a good memory for details. I have musical training in the piano and have mastered its basic use (although I'm definitely not an artist). Once I have grasped a concept or a truth, I want to see it implemented, immediately. If not sooner. House building has been an on-going lesson in patience. And it has not been an easy one.

There are so many interruptions along the path. And sometimes areas you thought were completed, need repair. Sometimes the plans you prepared turn out to not be what you need and you have to change them. Time has a way of moving on and changing your perspective. While we've been building this house, I've grown old - I'm of retirement age now. Almost all of my children have married. All of completed their education and all have moved out. One of my best friends died and I am still in mourning. My parents-in-law died and I sat with my mother-in-law as she passed from this world to the next. I've had friends move away and friends go through death, divorce and disappointment. I may lose one or both of my parents before I move from this house. I've tried to advance in my career and then decided family was more important. I've welcomed several grandchildren into the family, seen one of kids follow in my career path, stuck with my church through high and low waters, and most importantly, grown closer to God and more secure in my faith.

Log cabins have a way of bringing you to reality. They keep you in touch with the natural world - after all, your walls are just slightly altered trees! They are vulnerable to bugs, birds, weather and fire. When I start getting a little picky and perfectionist, I can look up and see a new spider moving in or a ladybug convention deciding to set up shop in my bathroom! And if a new scratch appears on the wood floor, I have to say, "hey, don't get so uptight - it's a log house!!"

In the same vein, I have to remind myself that my body is also a log house. This is not my dream home, my final destination. This house doesn't even really belong to me! It's rental property, loaned to me by God. I didn't decide to be born, the parents and location and culture of my birth - they were given to me. As rental property, I don't need to worry about the major repairs. I am responsible to treat this property with respect and use it honorably, as a stage for living. The Bible tells me that God doesn't dwell in temples made by human hands but chooses to dwell in temples of flesh. We who have acknowledged that we have been bought and paid for by the death and resurrection of God's only Son, are to live our lives in joy, gratitude and worship. We await our final redemption and resurrection and are to carry the message to those who are still enslaved to Satan. We are to be light on the hill, salt to the food, seekers of the lost, givers to the needy, comforters to the mourners, instructors to the ignorant. We are Christ's voice and hands and feet.

May I be reminded continually as I go through this new year to live out this mission. And when I see those who have walked away from Christ to pursue the rental property owned by another taskmaster, may I continually say, "God will judge" and "There but for the grace of God, go I" and keep moving into the light HE has shed in my soul.

Happy New Year!