I instantly thought, “wow, years seeming like days sure sounds familiar.”  Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3:8, ” But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. (ESV)”

Is it possible that  just as Jacob’s love for Rachel made the seven years seem like days that God’s love for us is so great that the time in which he is waiting for His bride seems like days to Him?

Sometimes thoughts come to me at the oddest times, like making espresso for example. Pulling proper shots of espresso is an art, and one that makes the hole-in-the-wall coffee shops so popular with those who enjoy the taste of a fine cup.  While some larger corporations spend millions perfecting a machine to tamp and pull at the perfect poundage and pressure, there is nothing like a hand tamped shot.  My interest was sparked by an episode of Alton Brown’s “Good Eats” who used a bathroom type scale to learn just how hard you really need to press (anywhere between 30 and 40 pounds from what I understand).  In addition, the tamper must be twisted to give a smooth finish to the grounds ensuring the grounds are level with no places for the water to “sneak through”.  After all this work, what is produced is some great tasting, energy giving, and beautiful looking espresso and the iconic crema.  Without the proper preparation, the coffee becomes watered down and weak.  One that will be poured down the drain.

So what does this have to do with pain?  Life is full of trails, temptations, being pressed and pushed.  During this rough economy, families are feeling the heavy burden of finances, lack of jobs, home loss, and more.  As hard as it is to understand at times, the 35 to 40 pounds of pressure that is pushing at you will result in glorious fruit.  A sweet smelling aroma to God.  Without such pressure and testing, the Christian’s fruit will be less then impressive.

We are the workmanship of God (http://bible.us/Eph2.10.KJV), made in His image (http://bible.us/Gen1.27.ESV), He is the potter and we are the clay (http://bible.us/Isa64.8.ESV).  Through these times, we need to realize that God has His and our best interest in mind.  John Piper notes in an article:

So, Talitha, there are a thousand things that God is doing every time something painful happens to you. Most of these you do not know or understand. Job, Joseph, and Esther did not know what God was doing in their losses. But there is always one thing you can know God is doing when pain comes into your life. This is something you can settle with God ahead of time. He is always testing you.

If the test leads to your death, as it did for some of the Christians in Smyrna, Jesus wants you to know something ahead of time. “You will receive the crown of life.” That means he will raise you from the dead and will crown you with the kind of everlasting joy in his presence that will make up for your loses ten-thousand-fold. “Crown” signifies majestic, royal restoration and exaltation.

James says the same thing:

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

Passing the test means loving God to the end.

So settle it, Talitha. Loss and pain are coming into your life, but Jesus is infinitely stronger than the devil. So even if the devil is causing it, as he did in Smyrna, Jesus is letting it happen. And he always has his reasons—more than we can know. One of those reasons is always testing, namely, the testing of our faith and our love for him.

We cannot answer every why question. But there is always this answer: My faith is being tested. And our Lord never wastes his tests. Whether we believe this truth is, in fact, part of the test. In the mind of Jesus, the promise that he would give them the crown of life was enough to sustain the Christians in Smyrna. I pray that it will be enough for Talitha—and for you.

It would be easy to get bitter about the trials, but if we remain with God and keep our faith, we will produce fruit that is pleasing to God and those around us.

You don’t work on an assembly line any more. You work in project world, and more projects mean more chances to screw up, to learn, to make a reputation and to have more impact. – Seth Godin

My mind tends to get stuck on the “screw up” part, a fear of mine that what I deliver will be a screwup and detrimental to my job and ultimately leading to unemployment.  But that comma is not a period, screwing up is inevitable and it is one of the only means by which you can finish the sentence.  It’s the screw up that gives the opportunity to learn, which leads to building a reputation, and ultimately making a greater impact.  It’s what you (I) do with the screw up that determines whether the reputation and impact are positive or negative.

I busted out the handy dandy Mole Skin and threw out a sketch of the design, got some measurements and researched safe wood to use.  I say safe because we didn’t want any of that nasty MDF wood which puts off some chemicals.

(I originally thought our new daughter would appreciate a cool painting of an FJ40 climbing a hill, but that didn’t make it off the paper)

We found a reseller in town which would sell formaldehyde free MDF in 3/4 inch sheets, which was great as they only cost $4.00 more per 4×8 sheet.  The legs were simple white pine from the hardware store, and I used various furniture hardware to attach the sides together.

The first step was cutting and assembling the legs and bottom.  The process started with a rough cut thanks to a jig saw and table to be cleaned up later.

Used some clamps to make sure everything lined up well.

Glue and hidden screws held the legs together so the base could be attached:

And the base is attached!

I then cut out the four sides and did a test fit just to make sure things looked and fit ok.

The process of cutting the slats out ended up being much more of a job than I had originally though.  I chewed through a couple forstner bits to create the rounded tops and bottoms of the slats, and use a jig saw to finish them off.  If I was to do it again, I think a better process could have been used.

When all was said and done, another test fit being held together with the furniture hardware resulted in the following:

And just when I thought the hard part was over, prep and painting took me by surprise.  MDF is not a fun product to sand as it’s extremely hard and MESSY.  Many thanks go to my parents to worked tirelessly one day to help prep and primer.  We chose to try a high gloss finish which was somewhat frustrating to work with, I wanted an amazingly smooth and shiny finish, which I got close, but it would have been nice to have it sprayed.  We stained the legs with a black stain.

The last step was to figure out what to put for the panel on the front.  My wife used her artistic skills to create an awesomely modern and great looking artwork for the front.  We had originally thought about creating a stencil to be used to paint the design, but after putting the stencil on, needless to say it stayed.  We lucked out when it came on a dark grey material and fell in love with it.

The crib turned out great and I think we were into it for under $300 dollars in materials.  I still need to create a piece for the front which will turn the crib into a day bed.  My mom made some awesome looking bedding and bumper that completes it.  Thanks everyone who contributed time to this project!

Hi Cory,

Are you sitting down?  We have exciting news for you – YOU WON the Mountain Khakis & Resort at Squaw Creek Fly Fishing Vacation Sweepstakes today!!!

I was able to take a guest, so I asked my wife to go with me on this adventure to Squaw Valley.  We booked the trip for an early weekend in October which Matt claimed was his favorite time to fish the river’s around there, and he wasn’t lying.

After long 9 hour drive from Central Oregon and an interesting stay in Susanville we arrived at the resort ready to relax and enjoy the same area we actually honeymooned.

The first day guided day (I say first because my wife bought another half day trip for me) with Matt was awesome.  He took me to the Little Truckee river where he claimed browns measured in pounds were coming from the reservoir to spawn.  When we arrived I looked down from a hill at this creek that was like the Fall River and the Crooked river mixed thinking to myself, “umm, 20+ inch browns and rainbows in there?”

We started the walk down to the first hole on the river that was an amazing little buck and seam where about a half dozen fish were brought to hand.  16-18 inch fish were the norm on both dries and nymphs.

The day continued on and the fog burned off, brining some very hard to read hatches.  At one point, at least four different types of bugs were hatching!  Continuing down the river we came to some beautiful tail outs and holes holding some very big and finicky fish.  The day ended with Matt pulling in this beauty.

The second day was more of the same.  The morning started out like this:

And peaked with my trophy for the week being landed on a size 20 nymph.  24 solid inches of brown trout!

Outside of the fishing, I had a great time with my wife and our daughter Grey.  We explored more of the Tahoe area, including a “rousing” trip into Carson City for the heck of it.  Many thanks to all who contributed prizes to the trip.  The clothes are great, loving my Mountain Khaki pants and Bugslinger gear.  Matt is an awesome guy who has a serious passion for fly fishing and teaching.  Look him up if your in the Tahoe area and go fishing with him!

94 million? Are you kidding me?  I can’t believe that there are 94 million people tuning into the BCS Championship Game who needed to search Google for that verse.

Speaks pretty directly to the state of the Church in the US right now.

Thanks everyone.