Milling Trees Requires Faith
Cut logs have lined parts of the lane the entire time we’ve lived on the Pasteje farm. Then, in the last year, five trees fell across the creek, and one fell onto another tree behind the boathouse, joining the others that have rested horizontally for… years.
I (Dave) currently volunteer as the farm administrator to bring the farm back to life, so these fallen trees are vivid, stubborn, multi-ton reminders of how much we have to do and the never-ending list that is more than we can handle on our own.
Our friends at VidaNet had hired a team of forestry engineers from the National University of Costa Rica (UNA) and had a good experience with them, so I contacted them in early October.
Finally, by December 6, they began cutting and moving all the logs into place with a big, green John Deere 6400 tractor.
My delight was cut short when, at the end of the first day, they told me they had other work to do the following two days and that the university would be on holiday break until January 8. UGH!!
Sigh. “Well, I’ve waited two years to get this work done, I can wait another month,” I thought.
True to their word, they came and finished the work a month later. Yay!
Funny thing though. When something that has been bothering you is gone, you don’t notice it as much as you did when it was there. The relief I felt at all the downed timbers being gone was much less than my irritation at them being there.
Anyway, it was amazing to behold the pile of 110 logs piled at the milling spot.
We only had to wait a month for them to return to begin the milling. And that’s where our faith had to kick in.
Why? When you decide what dimensions you want the lumber cut into, you quickly need to dream of projects for which to use it.
We already knew we needed 1x4’s and 2x4’s for general repairs. Bob (the owner) and I began counting the door frames required for the unfinished cottage.
Here’s where the faith came in. See, there’s not only one cottage that’s about 75% completed. There’s a second one right next to it that only has the first floor concrete block wall finished. Neither cottage has been touched in ten years. Ten years!
We literally stopped and prayed, asking the LORD for direction for His vision. “God, give us wisdom on how to steward the blessing of this wood,” we prayed. So we milled the forty 2x8s we will need for the second cottage’s upstairs floor and enough 1x4s to make tongue-and-groove boards for the floor. Honestly, it was a step of faith to get the wood to complete the first cottage, let alone the wood for the second one!
We also have enough eight-foot 2x18 planks to build new tables and benches for the dining hall. It looks like I’m going to teach myself how to weld metal bases!
For the record, every building on Pasteje has been built with wood harvested from the farm. So this is our step of faith to prepare for future building projects!
My question for you is…what is in your hands that the LORD is asking you to steward in faith? As you pray and listen, get specific with the “number of boards (and their dimensions)” you’ll need. I’d love to hear about it and dream with you!
Love,
Dave, Heather, Aspen, Clementine, Louis, Juliana, Huxley, and Caspian Helmuth
Here’s a video:
