I hope this blog finds you in good spirits.

I finished my first day of work at my new job! Woohoo! I just started working construction. Today we actually did more destruction. We found ourselves at an old farm house in North Topeka (Dane...we passed Plantation Steakhouse...I laughed) tearing out plaster and lath. For those of you who don't know, the lath are thin boards that are nailed across the studs on the walls with a little space in between each of them for the plaster (a cement type mixture) to get into and harden and hold it up and is the 1/2 inch part of the wall you touch and see. So I got to take sledge hammers to the plaster to break it off. Then I got to pry off the lath with a crow bar. Then I got to shovel it all into a large trash can and carry it down some old narrow steps, through the dining room, through the kitchen, down the porch, and hurl it in the dumpster. The first load I took, I forgot that I was basically carrying a trash can full of broken rocks and overfilled it. I still got it in the dumpster though. This job was so much fun that one of my co-workers quit the job after lunch. Leaving more work for the rest of us. Thanks Steve.

I couldn't stop a thought from wandering into my head as I was moving a sledge hammer out of the way of my shoveling rocks and boards. "I'm the only one upstairs. Down there, they can hear all this stuff I'm moving around. I could just keep moving stuff and not really have to do any work." I hated that idea the moment it reared its ugly head. Fortunately there was a counter thought. "You can fool your co-workers for a while, but when the boss comes back to check on you, he'll see that you have made no progress and you'll get fired." Then it hit me like a ton of plaster...its the same way when Jesus comes back. Some of you who read this claim to follow him. Others of you don't. This blog is for both of us. There is a verse in the Bible that says, "Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." Those who claim to follow Jesus are going to have to do His work here on earth. Now if we are hypocrites and are just saying that we are religious when all we are really doing is "making a lot of noise" for everyone else...well...you may be able to fool us, but when the boss comes back, he'll know if you were just moving stuff around. The work is hard. You're going to get dust, sweat, and wood in your eyes. Your muscles will burn. You're going to get blisters on your hands and the hammer will get heavy. People may even quit and leave you with more work. But please...do everyone in your life a favor (believers and non believers alike) start helping us tear down the hardness of men's hearts. I know...I'm a church nerd. Oh well. It helped me through the day. Oh yeah...my mom got pics of me after I was done. There kinda funny.

PEACE!

P.S. Dane, I would not trade our chill time on Saturday night for the world. 3 ninja

P.S.S. "From Toys to Trains"...was about the battle of growing up. Anyone remember the old Toys R Us song? "I don't wanna grow up, I'm a Toys R Us kid. There are so many toys there that I can play with. From toys to trains to video games, its the biggest toy store there is. I don't wanna grow up, cause if I did...I wouldn't be a Toys R Us kid."