MOVING DAY

Hello folks,

This goofy blogger is holding my pictures for ransom.  If I don't pay it won't let me post any more photos!

Ahh, but I am much wiser than they.  I have found a new blogger where I will continue my shananigans uninterupted.  Please check out my new blog at..

  lifewiththegriswolds.wordpress.com

If this isn't a link, just copy and paste in your browser.

Hope to see you there.



Peace

Dan

STEPPING OUT

For the past few months (really a lot longer than that) I have had this undescribable feeling, deep inside, that God was calling me to do something big.  Bigger than myself.  Something that would further the Kingdom of God in this world.
That being said, I have no idea what He is calling me to do.
I do know that it is not at my work.  As a matter of fact, I am increasingly feeling that I may be in the wrong place as far as work is concerened.  Don't get me wrong, I have a tremendous job.  Great pay, wonderful co-workers and bosses, and I love what we do.  I just have an inkling that God could use me somewhere else.

I have numerous people praying for me (and Robyn, she is feeling a tug too) that Jesus will reveal His desires of where I can do His will.  When that moment comes I want to believe that I will jump up and move.
That would mean dropping my life, and everything in it, to go where He asks.

Would I?

Would you?



I'm going to drift away from my normal blog to post a blog I happened upon that struck me as fantastic.
Sarah Schrack is a young lady who is a true follower of Jesus.  This is how I want to be.  Check out her blog at sarahschrack.theworldrace.org

Sarah

Two years ago, I took a literal step of faith. I got onto a plane that took me to New Zealand to start my World Race. I was petrified. I didn’t want to go. But I took that first physical step. Last year, I took another step of faith, once again onto a plane.

This time, bound for London. A couple months later, I got on another plane heading for Africa to squadlead. And tonight, I take yet another step of faith onto yet another plane as I head for London to intern with Burn 24/7.

I go because “the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power (1 Corinthians 4:20).” I am so willing to say I trust God. So willing to surrender everything in theory. But His Kingdom isn’t about talk. It’s about those physical steps of faith.

Esther couldn’t just say “Mordecai I feel really bad for you.” She had to act, risking her life to go before the king and save the Jews.

David could have just said, “Oh hey look at that huge giant. Someone should do something about him.” But he didn’t.

Peter didn’t just believe Jesus was the One on the water; he got out of the boat and walked to Him.

The past year of my life has been all about that. All about that trust in action, not just words.

Because at the end of the day, it comes down to one thing. Do I believe Jesus?

Not just that He said some nice things, not just that He saved me from Hell. Do I believe that He’s sovereign in my daily life? That He loves me more than I love myself? That He actually knows best? I gotta tell you, I’ve been saying I believe those things for years.

But talk is cheap.

It’s easy to say we trust Him when things are good. When we got that new job or that new boy or that perfect dream opportunity. But what about when He tells you to do the one thing you’re petrified of and can’t imagine overcoming? To quit your job, break up with your boyfriend, give thousands of dollars away, move to a foreign country that you don’t even want to visit? When you’re out on the water and Jesus seems a heckuva lot farther than the boat, what are you gonna do?

The Kingdom of God is coming. It’s here. It’s sweeping over nations. God is pouring out His Spirit (Joel 2:28). But God is longing for us to partner with Him in it. And that takes power, not just talk. That takes believers believing God at His word and acting and trusting accordingly, no matter how petrified we are.

I want to still trust Him even as the boat drifts away. I want to be the kind of Christ follower that Esther and David and Peter would be proud to call sister. I want to be a woman of power, not just talk.

Don’t you?

You can follow Sarah’s journey on her blog.

She's only 22.  She is someone I would like to model myself after.  I hope that when His call for me is made clear (because I need definition, I am not great at pickin up on hints.  Ask Robyn) I want to take that leap of faith and not look back.  I want to ignore the fear and all that this world says I should do.  

Pray for me, and I will pray for you.

Peace

Dan

WHAT'S NEXT?

Saturday, after doing my weeding, Robyn and I went up to Stormy's.  It was a retirement party for the owner of the bar.  Cliff has owned the bar for nearly a quarter of a century.  He offered to have my sister and I buy it but that is not a direction I want to go, so in one week it will be under new ownership.  When we walked in it was obvious how well liked Cliff is...

It's never this busy when I work

I have worked for Cliff on and off for more than 10 years.  The last time I was looking to earn some extra money, I asked him for a job.  He refused by saying, "I'm not gonna hire you, you have already quit three times."  

It's true.  

Three days later he called and asked if I still wanted a job because somebody was let go and he had a spot to fill.  I said, "Are you just hiring me so you can fire me, as pay back?"  

That was 2 1/2 years ago.

I'm gonna miss him.

Me and my buddy Cliff

After an hour or so at the shin-dig, we went over to my niece's church to watch her kids get baptized.  Alysia did great, she is such a little ham.  Andrew on the other hand didn't handle it so smoothly.  At one point I was pretty sure the baptismal font was going to fall over.  But it all ended nicely.

happy momma

Monday it was back to the grind.  We had an install to do at Iowa State University.  

This was stage two of a very large project.  We installed the benches in the hall that match the trophy case bases we installed last year.  The install went super.

a base and a bench

one hall done

Tuesday we ran the wine bar over to the 12 piece job.  It is the first piece and it fit perfectly.

putting it to immediate use

Once back at the shop, I began wondering when my poision ivy was going to go away.  It has been over two weeks and it's still bugging the tar out of me.

I hope it's not a biblical plague.

pray for healing

I then assembled this contraption...

what the?...

It took some serious thinking and a little luck but I was able to put together a form for the wine bar bottle holder columns.  We then poured the concrete in the tubes.

That picture may be hard to understand, but it is going to be way cool when it is done..

Wednesday we got all the fibers ran in the new pond caps for the job in Paton, Iowa.  

Every time I look at them it makes my heart sink, knowing that this redo is my fault.

I'm sure it is the devil tormenting me and stealing my joy, but it is hard to break out of this funk.

Danny downer

Next we took the upper bar and lower bar over to the 12 piece job.  It took most of the day to mortice in the steel supports and set pieces 2, 3 and 4, but it's looking good.  

coming together

I had to get a picture of the wine cellar.  I think it is awesome.  Check it out....

4g's in stainless steel

Here is a before pic I took while templating, so you can begin to see the transformation.

borrrinnggg!

And the new tops, so far.

we also refinished the floor

I was there until after 7, and it was 100 degrees out side.  I had to make numerous trips around the outside of the house and up to the truck.  In just those few minutes I was drenched.

On my way back to the shop I saw a woman standing by the exit ramp holding a sign.  I decided that if she was still there when I went home I would stop and talk to her.

I first went to a convience store and got a large bottle of cold water (I know how hot it was out there) and a sandwich.

I drove down the frontage road and saw her standing there.  I got out and asked if we could talk.

First I asked her name.  It is June.  Then I asked if she knew Jesus.  She answered affirmitivly.  I asked her if she would share her story.  

She has been homeless since 2003.  She has family but dosen't know where they are.  She is divorced and told me she just gets by one day at a time.  

When I asked if she prayed for God's blessings, she said not very often.  I felt horrible.  After 10 years she had lost hope in Jesus.  

I offered her a devotional and gave her the water, food and a little money. 

I told her about myself, my family and my job.  I mentioned that I was thinking of quitting my job and she told me not to.  June said she quit her job cleaning hotel rooms a decade ago and has been unemployed ever since.

I wonder if God placed her in my life just to say that.

I asker if it was ok if I included her in my prayers and asked if I could give her a hug.  She accepted both with little hesitation.  I hope she saw Jesus in me and it helps turn her situation around.

God, please bless June

Thursday we cut the wine holder colums free from the tubes and began processing them.

interesting...

Then we ran over to the 12 piece job and put in #5 and #6.  They are wrap around shelves that attach to the lower bar.  They were a bit of a challange but alls well that ends well.

the shelves wind their way around the corner

Friday morning on my way into work I saw this unusual cloud formation...

more of God's handiwork

I had to run over to a patio job that Speck did.  The crew had accidently put the treads back on the client's deck backwards and you could see stain drip marks.  I quickly corrected the situation and snapped a photo.

sweet patio

Then we went over to the 12 piece job and installed the wine holder columns.  We put fiber optic lights in the columns as a neat touch.  Piece 7 and 8.

now THAT is cool

We also installed the fireplace panels and hearth.  We will be making a table for this client in the future.  They are going to use the silver color in the table to tie everything together

9, 10, 11 and 12

Here is a picture with the glass enclosed wine cellar in the background.

one awesome basement bar!

I came back to the shop and did a little work and was asked if I would take a table from the showroom over to the 12 piece job.  They had family coming in town for the holiday week and wanted to borrow some kind of table.  I took a bar hieght table with a stainless steel Hawkeye inlay.  

When I got there they had their bar all set up so I took a couple pics for your enjoyment.

built in towel rack and drainboard

In this pic you can see the table in the background...

I wanna belly up

When I got home that evening, Robyn and I went for a walk.  We have been using our walks to discuss future plans.  God's plans that is.

heading off into the sunset

Saturday morning we decided to go to the farmers market and get some fresh fruit and veggies.  

doing a little people watching

When we got home, Robyn showed me a shelving unit she had designed for our office.   Nick and I spent the rest of the day getting material, cutting the pieces and assembling them.  Robyn will paint them next week when I go to Sioux City for my nephew, Brandon's wedding reception.

pretty cool

Sunday the service was about Esther.  She was a woman who stood for what was right, and relied on God, even if it could mean her death.  Her story mirrors the story of our forefathers.  They stood up to the king at the risk of being hanged.  But they knew they were in the right and trusted in God to deliver them, and boy, did He come through.

I have been giving a lot of thought to what my next step in serving Jesus should be.  I know that death isn't going to be the result, but homelessness is a possibility.  I am definetly not being fulfilled at work.  It's odd because I have a great job, but I don't feel like that's where I'm supposed to be.  All rational thought says to stay with my current situation, but something deep inside is saying the opposite.

I honestly don't know what I will do, so in the meantime I will end this week just like last week.

In the garden.  Only this time I am watering flowers, not picking thistles.

There I can relax and pray.

where dreams grow

Peace

Dan

TAKING THE GOOD WITH THE BAD

Iowa weather is a fickle thing.  They say if you don't like the weather here just wait 24 hours and it will change.  Last week we went from hot to cool to hot again and we haven't had any real rain in almost a month.  At least I thought it was hot.  The real heat and lack of rain was becoming evident.

Monday I formed up the pieces for the covered patio job.   It took me most of the day because all the pieces required caps.  This is the job that was supposed to be ready in 10 days.  I think some clients think we just pull these things out of our hats.  They don't realize the labor involved.

Our boss gave us an extra three days.

some odd shapes

On Tuesday we poured the covered patio job and had it out of the molds that night.

where the magic happens

Tuesday night at the bar was special.  The tempurature had been hovering around 85 for the last few days and the humidity made it miserable, but the air conditioner in the bar was set on frosty.  My brother-in-law Mike stopped in to get out of the heat.  I don't see him often enough even though we only live a few miles apart.  Then we were joined by my sister Debbie and she brought along my sister Sherry, who I rarely see.  Sherry lives across the country and dosen't get back often.  My fellow worker Chris dropped by also.

I was especially glad to see Sherry.  As siblings often do, we don't see eye to eye on a lot of things.  But we do both agree on one very important thing, and that is that Jesus is our Lord.  All of us talked and laughed into the night and by closing time it was just Debbie, Sherry and myself.  (my friend Danny was with us too)  We ended the night with our regular Tuesday night prayer circle.  Sherry's input helped to make it deeper and more thought provoking.  It would be nice to have that more often.

I believe Mike may be suffering a heat stroke

On hump day we loaded up the pieces for the giant job in Paton Iowa.  This project has been ready to go since last fall.  The Iowa weather changed too fast and we had to hold off on the install until now.  The land scape company doing the job is one of the better ones.  We have worked with them before and they demand perfection.  So far we have delivered.

almost 2500 pounds of concrete

Thursday the color for the other 4 benches for the Iowa State project came in, so we got the rest of the job poured.

Chris gets the mix ready

We also continued on processing the covered patio job and got the second coat of sealer on the big 12 piece job.  

signed, sealed and awaiting delivery

At the end of the day I demolded the ISU benches.  All these projects will be installed with in two weeks.

tree stumps in a concrete jungle

Friday morning I came into work and stopped at the koi pond to feed the fish.  It has become my responsibility to do the feeding since the guy that used to do it left to pursue his own career.

After several weeks I have the fish following me everytime I walk past the pond.

the smallest fish has actually ate out of my hand

Then I began forming the big project for the Iowa Shelter.  This will be the reception area for the new homeless shelter.  This may be our biggest project to date

just the beginning

The heat for the last few days has been pushing the mid to upper 80s.  My niece Sarah had asked if I would help side her garage this week-end.  My nephew Dean and Canyon were going to do the roof (I knew that I would be up there too).  

All week long people had been complaining that their lawns were so dry it was like walking on glass. 

So as Iowa weather always does, just when I didn't want rain, it showed up.  At a quarter to five on Friday, just when I was preparing to head over to work on the garage, the heavens opened up.

where's Noah?

I took a couple ladders over to the garage and snapped a quick pic to use as a before reference.

we can rebuild it, we have the technology

Early Saturday morning we headed over and got started.  Robyn and Nick came to help out too.  The temperature approached the mid 90s and the humidity from the rain made it a little hard to breath.

Canyon and Dean on the roof, Nick works on the siding

For some reason, Sarah decided to feed us health food for lunch.  We had pin wheel finger sandwhiches and fresh veggies.  Not real manly.  (admittedly it was yummy)

We worked until 5 or so.  Robyn and I had a graduation party to attend, but right about 5:30 I got a call from Robyn's boss.  His wife was ill and they had tickets to the production of Billy Elliot at the Civic Center.  They couldn't go but he didn't want the tickets to go to waste.  If we wanted them they were ours.  

Of course we did.

The show was at 7:30.  So we rushed home, showered and raced downtown to the Civic Center

a little culture in our lives

The musical was very good.  It was the story of a poor mining town on strike.  The son of a miner wanted to be a ballet dancer but his dad will not allow that.   The dancing and singing were exceptional.  The down side was that the show was riddled with profanity.  When we got home that night we were exhausted.   We slept in and missed church.  When we finally got moving we went back to Sarah's to finish up the garage.

By noon Sunday we were hard at it.  I got up on the roof to show the boys how to hammer down some shingles.  A nail gun showed up at about 1 and I challenged Dean to a race.  I used a hammer and he used a gun.  He has a hard time admitting it but I out shingled him almost 2 to 1.

making progress

As the siding started going up it became evident that we didn't have enough.  It is special order and the boxes only contained half the square footage that the order desk said was in them..  I didn't want to tell anybody that it was probably my fault because I'm a Griswold.

So about 4:30 we had the roof done and all the siding on that was available.  The tempurature was in the upper 90s and I was beat.

a work of art

Then Dean and Canyon asked if I wanted to go golfing.   

I know, right?

I told them they were nuts.  It was almost 100 degrees, and I just got done working my behind off.

That's when they played their ace.  They threw the Father's Day thing in my face.  "Won't you play golf with your son on father's day?"

I agreed but only if they could get a tee time this late, and I needed to take a shower first.   I knew that would never happen...

Happy father's day

I will tell you that golfing was much more relaxing than roofing.  And I beat them both.   I let Dean know that I am twice his age, twice his weight, nailed down twice as many shingles (using a hammer) and kicked his butt on the links.  

We finished up just as the sun was setting.

Canyon puts one in there tight.

Monday morning came way to fast.  I was sore and sunburnt.  But we had a massive install to do so I had to be at the shop by 6 A.M.

rise and shine.. well, rise at least

We got the carts loaded into the trailers and started out toward Paton Iowa.  About half way we stopped at a convience store for some eats.  When Chris checked the load he was horrified to find this...

crushing through the floor boards

The weight of the pieces loaded on the carts was too much for the trailer.  The floor boards were giving way.  I know your thinking the Griswold factor here.  Luckily, we had some steel ramps that we slid under the tires and spanned the holes in the floor.

The scale of this patio is unbelievable.  Just for starters, they have a stream running through it, but that's not all.  The stream lights on fire!

a cool feature

The first thing we did was get the pond wall caps installed.  The wall is more than 30 feet long and I had some difficulty getting the pieces to line up.  My arch wasn't quite right and the seams were looking strange, it wasn't perfect, but we moved forward.

just a little off..

There was a little struggle with the bar pieces, but a bit of fanaggeling brought it all together.

some commercial bars aren't this big

This whole project is phenominal.  They have been building the house for 3 years and doing the landscaping for 2 1/2 years.  This back yard could easily be in a park or a zoo.  Here are some pics to check out...

origionally a corn field

the big pond out back is 40 feet deep

The temp was over 100.  We were there all day.  On the long drive home the AC never really got cold enough, but I was glad to have that job done.

Tuesday morning we poured the waterfall cap.  By that afternoon we recieved a phone call from the client in Paton.  They did not like the pond caps.  The pieces didn't fit right and lined up funny.  My heart sank.  I knew the day before that it didn't look right.  If they couldn't be adjusted to fit better, the fault would fall squarely on me.  This could turn out to be very expensive mistake.  

My boss would make a trip up there in the next day or so.  I felt horrible.  I templated and formed the job, and I don't know what I did wrong.  I feared I may lose my job.

I was thinking about the possibility of being fired for the rest of the day.  As I drove home I told myself that I would stop out on the dirt road that I take and get out and pray.  When I stopped and got out it started to sprinkle.  People driving by must have thought I was crazy.  I stood in the rain and prayed.  I asked God if He would show me what I was to do if I lost my job.  I realized that I wasn't necessarily sad about that possibility but more upset that I could have cost the company a great deal of money.

I knew that God didn't promise that there wouldn't be trouble in my life.  I also know that loosing my job wouldn't be the end of it all.  As a matter of fact, maybe it would be the push I need to start my own business.  I prayed that God would ease my heavy heart and help me put my best foot forward.

into every life some rain will fall

Wednesday morning I awoke not feeling much lighter.  I usually get pretty down on myself when I screw up.  I went into work with the feeling of letting everybody down.  But I continued with my job.

We had to install the covered patio job.  This one went together with relative ease.

this one looks good

At small group that night we studied the story of Daniel.  If I thought I had trouble in my life it was nothing compared to Daniel's.  When he was threatened with loosing his life for not following the orders of the King, he didn't wallow in self pity.  He put his faith in God, and God delivered him from the lions.

That helped to ease my burden, because I should, and would, put my faith in God and He will provide.

I have been feeling a call to do something worthwhile to further the kingdom of God.  Maybe this was not a mistake, but part of His plan.  Maybe now I could step out and do what it was that He was calling me to do.  

But what is it?

I would continue to ask Him to reveal it to me.

Thursday at work I was working on the Iowa Shelter job when my boss came back from Paton.  

I drew a deep breath.

He said that I had to rebuild the caps.  He brought me new templates and said that although he was disappointed he knew that these things can happen.  His only request was that I make them a priority.

Although the threat of loosing my job was no longer of any concern, I still feel upset with myself.

The devotional that day offered me some advice.  It says, "What has God called and equiped you to do?  Step out and do it, and He will empower you."  Hmmm...

I called Robyn and told her I was thinking of getting out of this line of work and doing something else. I offered a couple of ideas and told her to read the devotional.  She called back and informed me that it also says, 'Plan, prepare and save."   She told me not to quit my job just yet.  

I stayed late and got all the caps reformed.

here we go again

I had been noticing all through the week that I had several itchy bumps on my arm.  I thought I may have stuck it in some kind of mosquito nest in Paton.   By Friday Robyn had the same bumps.   We suspected the dog or cat must have brought in some kind of bug.   Robyn called Sarah and found out she had bumps too.  It was poison ivy.  By Friday night mine were starting to blister.  No one else at the garage work site was afflicted.  I would like to personally welcome Sarah to the Griswold clan.

ewwww!

Saturday morning my self pity was beginning to wain, but I still have a strong desire to serve God in a bigger way.  Maybe this whole thing has been a test, to see if I can handle being humbled and deal with trials and tribulation.  Sometimes He turns up the heat just to refine us a little more.

 

I went and got us some coffee.  We sat and enjoyed that, then I went out to pluck the huge thistles that have sprung up seemingly over night in our flower garden.

I think He is testing me again, to see how I handle weeding my garden.

I wonder if this whole week has just been a giant weed in my life.

I can be so dramatic at times, don't you think?

this test I can pass

Peace

Dan