The FIREWOOD

Yesterday we got up early and headed outside expecting rain to blow through Fairfield by noon.  I left the dishes undone and saved the laundry for the afternoon when I was sure we would be trapped back indoors. 

Project #1 began with us on a mission transferring a massive pile of leaves from the backyard to the garden.  Supposedly leaves act as a fertilizer. It took us several loads using the wheel barrel and the wagon back and forth to clear out the leaf pile. 

After we checked that off of the list, we headed onto project #2 with a sense of urgency to clean out the martin houses.  My purple martin scouts will be here later this month.  I am a hospitable landlord for my bird tenants.  We lowered three houses and got them all cleaned out and ready for this season.  I did not know if we would finish or before the rain hit, but we worked at a quick pace and knocked it out in record time.

Next, we surveyed the firewood that needed to be split and stacked over behind the shop.  My oldest son and I strangely view firewood work as a hobby.  He is the expert splitter and I am the best stacker around.  I told him that we could start, but according to the weather man, it was highly unlikely that we would get much work in before the rain.  We kicked it into high gear, already having accomplished more by noon than we usually do in a whole weekend. 

When I got tired of transporting and stacking, I glanced up at the clouds moving in.  The dark clouds made me work faster. Brazos and I were on a mission.  We had a sense of urgency for sure.

Lunchtime came and went with no rain at all.  By early afternoon, we had managed to get a cord and a half of wood finished.   It was more than we ever dreamed that we could do an especially since the wood was project #3 on our list.   

Urgency was my thought all morning as I worked.   We were so productive! I began thinking as I stacked the wood that urgency might be a concept I should apply to more in life than just Saturday morning chores when there is a chance of rain. 

A sweet grandmother and momma went home to be with the Lord this weekend.  She lived with urgency.  She loved the Lord, her family, worked out a few days a week at the gym, and lived life to the fullest.  She seemed to live with urgency!  I want that.

My friends with seniors at home could give us all a lesson or two on urgency.  They are making the most of every minute they have with their babies, or their seniors now, while they are still at home.  I want that.

Urgency is not a massive “to-do” list and cannot be mastered with a new I-phone app.  Urgency is meaningful. It matters because it usually deals with relationships and people.   Maybe it is a relationship you need to mend, forgiveness you need to ask for, a phone call that is long overdue you need to make, or a leap of faith that you know you need to take. 

Like Nike says, JUST DO IT and urgency says do it today.  Live with a sense of urgency.  The top thing on your list today should be your salvation.  The Lord will return.  He will come back for HIS children.  The Bible tells us in Matthew 24:42 “Therefore, be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.” I love wording with “your Lord” in that verse.  The Lord is coming, that is true.  Is He YOUR Lord?