It has been absolutely dumping rain this week. Therefore, the roofers showed up to finish the roofing project. (of course! Ha!)
They worked hard all day long on Tuesday … but alas, darkness fell, and they were not quite done.
Wednesday, mid-afternoon, they packed up their things and drove off.
Are they done??
Hubby came home from work that evening, and after dinner we decided to climb up top to see if things were really done.
Hubby pulled down the ladder, and up the stairs he climbed.
He gave a heave on the hatch … but the hatch door would not budge!
Perched precariously atop creaking stairs, hubby heaved and pushed!
The hatch door would not budge!
With everything he had, hubby pushed! And heaved!
Suddenly … the hatch gave way slightly as it slid cy-goggly to the side at an angle.
The hinges weren’t on the hatch!!
That hatch door was unbelievably beastly heavy with no hinges! Granted, it was beastly heavy to start with. But with no hinges, it was completely unmovable!
There just simply was no budging it.
Hubby peeked up through the tiny gap, from where the hatch now sat at a slight angle. In the darkness, he could see buckets and ropes and roofing materials. Obviously the roofers weren’t quite done yet.
I have never once thought to be grateful for hinges.
Have you ever thought to be grateful for hinges?
After trying to get that hatch door back in place with no hinges, I now am supremely grateful for hinges!
Hubby grabbed the hatch handle and attempted to move the hatch back in place over the opening. But the beastly heavy hatch would not budge!
Well, we couldn’t leave it like that … there was now a considerable gap to the outdoors … with no way to seal it off … and it was raining. (of course!) We had to somehow get that hatch back in place and the opening sealed.
Hubby heaved! And pushed! And tugged!
The creaky ladder stairs groaned and ‘sproinged’!
Hubby heaved! And pushed! And heaved!
The beastly heavy hatch would not budge!
After what felt like an eternity, hubby finally managed to scootch the hatch (by small degrees) back over the opening. With a great thud the hatch settled into place over the gap.
Hallelujah!!
Hubby and I were beyond relieved!
I would just like to say, once again, how thankful I am for hinges!!
The next night it appeared that the roofers were, in fact, done.
Cautiously, hubby once again pulled down the ladder.
Once more he gave a heave on the hatch door.
This time … the hatch opened up … to allow access to the top! The hinges were back on!!
Here you can see the open hatch in the dark of night.
Hubby and I have never been up top at night before. The couple who built the house had told us they used to go up top all the time, many years ago, to star-gaze. I could totally see how it would be a marvelous place to star-gaze! There is something magical about being up top in the dark of night.
However, I don’t think I would ever want to open up that hatch and go up there on a clear pleasant summer night.
The forest is full of nighttime flying moths … and mosquitoes! … and bats!
That hatch opening is so cozy and inviting! It would surely draw many unwelcome insect/bat visitors down into our home!
And voila! The hinges! For which I am now so very grateful!
The whole episode with the hatch hinges being off made me think how Jesus Christ is the HINGE upon which all of human history turns.
Our very years are divided into B.C. – “Before Christ” … and A.D. – Latin, for “In the year of our Lord.”
Time and dates are measured by the life of Christ.
Not only that … Jesus Christ is the HINGE upon which entrance to Heaven turns.
Just like hubby could not access the top as long as the hinges were off the hatch … so also, humanity cannot access entrance to Heaven without Jesus Christ.
The weight of our sin is just too heavy!
We all have sinned. Every one of us.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” – Romans 3:23
And that sin sits beastly heavy, just like our beastly heavy hatch door … blocking our access to the top – to Heaven.
We try with everything we have to get to Heaven. Just like hubby heaved with everything he had! We do good deeds. We are kind. We give to the poor. We are generous. We serve.
We give it everything we’ve got … trying to be good enough to get into heaven.
But our sin, just like that beastly heavy hatch door, is just too heavy!
And so we stand on the creaky ladder of life, as it groans and ‘sproings’ underneath our weight and efforts, pushing and trying for all we are worth to get into Heaven.
But without the HINGE of Jesus Christ, there simply is no getting the door open to the top – into Heaven.
Jesus Christ is the HINGE upon which the doorway into Heaven swings!
Jesus Christ is the only one who can remove that heavy, weighty burden of sin.
Jesus Christ is the only way to open up the doorway to Heaven and “access the top.”
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” – John 14:6
