Lumber

  My basement currently smells like lumber.  For those of you who aren't familiar with this smell, it's wonderful. I'm currently working on a project for a friend of mine's wedding, and while it's nothing big and spectacular, it's a project where I get to use a few power tools, so that makes it enjoyable for me.  I'm pretty excited about it, and one of the side benefits is the smell of lumber.  I love it--it is a breath of fresh air, a reminder of something being built, of newness.  It rejuvenates me.

  As I was standing in the garage, grinning like an idiot at the smell, it made me wonder what in my life smells like freshly cut lumber.  Where is God at work in my life?  What's the current construction project that God is trying to lead in my life?  Where is God building something new, some structure, perhaps, that I might stand upon to reach new heights?  And am I hindering construction, or ignoring what God is doing?  Or am I actively involved in God's work in my life?

  The smell of lumber is a reminder of construction, of newness.  God is also at work in me, in the world, trying to focus my eyes outward, so that I might take the love of God into the world, pointing to Christ in all I do.  One of the tricks for each of us is to examine ourselves and find where and what God is building in our lives, so that we might join in with what God is building.