When hubby and I purchased our home in the forest several years ago the property came with a workshop. The former owner was a master craftsman, who had built the house himself. His life’s work was custom cabinetry – which was the reason he had built the workshop.
Hubby did not know much about woodworking at the time, but hey, since we now had a workshop which came with the house, might as well get into woodworking. Hubby bought a few basic woodworking tools.
Our property in the forest also happened to come with a 2-stall horse barn. Hubby and I had no interest in getting any horses, so the first year in our home we converted the 2-stall horse barn into a “car barn.” We pulled up all the wooden floor planks of the horse barn and had a concrete foundation poured for the “car barn.”
This now meant hubby had a massive amount of free wood which he could use for his new woodworking hobby.
Hubby looked up information online about how to make things.
Hubby made me a small plant stand.
Hubby made a bench for us to sit on to take our shoes on and off.
Hubby made a clock.
Hubby wished he had a friend who knew something about woodworking who could show him some tips and tricks of the trade. But alas, hubby didn’t know anyone with woodworking knowledge.
While it was very helpful to watch YouTube videos, it was at the same time discouraging not to have anyone to ask questions of when a complication arose or if there was some confusing issue.
Hubby continued to putter off and on with his woodworking hobby. He made a sign for our house numbers, at the entrance to our driveway.
He made a birdhouse …
… and a decorative wooden Christmas tree.
Then life got busy …
… and hubby abandoned his woodworking endeavors.
Until this past Christmas … when hubby decided to make live-edge coat racks for our kids as Christmas gifts. Hubby purchased the metal hardware online, but he planed, stained, and finished the live-edge pieces.
We were all thrilled with how they turned out! Our kids loved them!
Buoyed by how well the coat racks turned out, hubby re-did our driveway entrance sign.
At this point in life hubby actually now has a good buddy who knows something about woodworking. This good buddy grew up with a dad who was a master craftsman … so this buddy grew up watching his father and learning from his father!
One of the first times hubby’s good buddy came over to do woodworking projects in our workshop, he flipped a couple of switches on hubby’s table saw … and … bodda-bing! bodda-bang! … the table saw opened up to twice the size! Hubby was astonished! “How did you do that?!?”
That’s the type of thing hubby has been wishing these past years that he had a friend “who knew what he was doing.”
This month hubby has been learning a ton about woodworking, just from watching his good buddy as they’ve been doing woodworking projects together. Here you can see a couple of their projects:
It’s obvious someone who “knows what they are doing” had a hand with these.
Hubby’s good buddy has been researching extensively woodworking products to sell online. And evidently the live-edge key-holder (pictured above) is a hot item for sale online right now! As well as the magnetic knife-board. Hot item! Who knew!!
Evidently the magnetic knife-board can also double as a key-holder.
And another big “hot-item” people seem to be really interested in is bottle holders like this:
Hubby and I do not drink wine, so a coke bottle was the best we had to trial out this prototype.
Hubby and his good buddy have already set up their own online Etsy store! They have chosen their company name, and hubby is busy working on getting a business license. They are looking forward to “making millions” selling their woodworking products online! Ha!
So … what is the point of my sharing all this with you??
Church is like … good buddies doing woodworking together!
When someone makes the decision to follow Jesus Christ, as a brand-new Jesus-follower they are very much like hubby was when he decided to get into woodworking.
A brand-new follower of Jesus Christ has the Bible – which is invaluable for learning about God and how to follow Jesus!
But just like hubby watching YouTube tutorials and videos, there reached a point when he tried to do the woodworking technique himself and ran into complications. He had questions. He wasn’t quite sure. He needed someone who “knew what they were doing.”
Every follower of Jesus Christ needs a good buddy who “knows what they are doing.”
* How do I know what God’s will for my life is??
* How do I know if I’m doing the right thing??
* How do I find the right spouse??
* How do I have a good marriage??
* How do we work through conflict in our marriage??
* How do I be a good parent??
* How do I live for Jesus in a secular workplace which is 100% opposed to God??
Life is complicated! There are a lot of questions!
We each need a good buddy who we can “do life” together with. We each need someone who “has been there before” and who can help answer our questions.
This is why church. This right here is why it is so important to be in community with other Jesus-followers.
The people at church aren’t perfect. Nobody is perfect. But church is where we can develop friendships with people who are like hubby’s good buddy, who grew up with a dad who was a master craftsman. It is at church that we can find people who grew up with parents who loved and followed Jesus. They watched their parents as they grew up … and they learned!
These people might not “have it all figured out” … but they know a lot more than we do! Much about living the Christian life comes naturally for them, because they had the example of their parents who showed them “how it’s done.”
We each need a good buddy, when it comes to “figuring out how to live the Christian life.”
All my life I have had mentors and role models at church whom I have looked up to, who have been a life stage or two ahead of me:
* They are in the life stage of having preschoolers – 3yr. & 5 yr. old (while at the time I had babies). I love the way they parent! I want to parent like that!
* They are in the life stage of kids in high school … I want to parent like that!
* They are in the life stage of “letting go” and sending their kids off to college. How do they do it?? I feel as if my heart is going to break any time I even think about “letting go”! I want to be strong like that! I want to parent like that! I want to “let go” like that!
* They are in the life stage of parenting young adult children. I love their example … I want to parent like that!
* Look at their marriage … I want my marriage to be like that!
We can learn a ton just by watching the example of others!
Hubby’s good buddy is by no means a master craftsman. While he knows a lot more about woodworking than hubby, he is still trying to learn more! He continually watches YouTube videos to learn as much as he can. He is continually stretching himself and trying new things which he’s never tried before.
While we can find wonderful role models to learn from at church, none of us “has arrived.” We each are a “work in progress” when it comes to living the Christian life. There are still many things God is teaching each one of us … no matter how old we get.
No matter how much Christian knowledge we do or don’t have, we each need to be stretching and growing! We each need to be learning! Continually learning! New Biblical truths we’ve never considered before! New insights we’ve never seen before.
If we (like hubby’s good buddy) are continually stretching and trying to grow in our knowledge of God … God will develop us! God will teach us new things! God will give us deeper insight & understanding! God will take our faith to a deeper level!
The Christian life is all about growth!
Continually trying.
Continually learning.
Continually stretching.
Continually being challenged.
And along the way, we learn from others who are a few “stages” ahead of us … while at the same time we ourselves are being a mentor/example for those who are a few “stages” behind us.
Church is like … good buddies doing woodworking together!
