The Joy of Building Things

When I was a child, so long ago it seems, I loved building things. I was quite the creative child if I do say so myself. I could create anything from cardboard boxes, old, spare pieces of lumber we came across in the garage or even a sheet with some rope, could become something fantastic and futuristic with my imagination.

We had some things to build with as well, building blocks, some that were colored and some that were plain old wood, of all different shapes and sizes. It seems like you could never have more than enough to build all the kinds of stuff only a kid's imagination could whip up.

We had Legos but not that many and certainly not like the kits that they have now. We just had the primary colors with lots of black and white pieces of rectangles, squares, and plastic windows. We never had circles or shapes with curves, trees or people, you had to invent those. But Legos were expensive and growing up when I did, with both my parents divorced when I was 7. I lived with my mom and brother. My mom worked two jobs just to make ends meet. We never saw her much, but it did give us lots of creative free time to play. So we made due with what we had.

Some Christmas' we got Tinker Toys. Now that was super fun, because you could build things that moved and if you added those to your starter collection of Legos and building blocks, you have a pretty large pool of resources to build things with. I loved making things that moved. Something about taking inanimate pieces and putting them together in such ways to make them mobile, really did wonders to impress me. There wasn't anything I couldn't create.

Lincoln Logs were next but you could only go so far with those. Just your standard log cabins, or log mansions, or log outhouses. You get the picture. It was a square box composed of logs stacked interlockingly upon one another , til you got it just the right height and you could add the green plastic roof.

Imagination is a great thing for the mind. It allows you to see possibilities in things that may not be really present. It allows you creativity to make something from nothing. It allows you to take a bunch of colored pieces of wood and make them into whatever your hearts desire is.

God is kinda like that. He made the world from nothing. Don't even know where He began and with what materials He used, other than the spoken word and poof! Instantly world. Instant Earth! Instant Universe. Instant Life.

I wrote this blog today while I was cleaning up my bedroom. I told you yesterday that ideas from blogging don't come when I have a pen and paper handy to jot down all of God's great insights. I was in the midst of dealing with hubby's work situation in which they are expecting him to do all things during all hours of the day. So many times I wanted to give not only my two cents worth, but unload my bank account to him.

Not taking it out on him of course, but expressing my thoughts about what a physical toll it was taking on him. He hasn't slept in days. Then I heard the voice that I should be listening to a whole lot more, and God spoke. He told me about how much I loved to build things with blocks when I was a child. How amazing things like bridges are built. How you can join two things together with such a great distance between them, even oceans, but it's possible if you believe hard enough and are willing to put forth the effort. It can happen, just like magic. Just like the things you built when you were a child, you can still continue to build things and watch the magic happen.

God gave me this verse today. "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. " (Ephesians 4:29 NIV). God basically gave it to me paraphrased, which was, "you have two choices. You can use your words to build someone up or you can use those same words to tear them down. The choice is up to you. "

Hmm, God is wise isn't He? I chose to support hubby and let him receive wisdom from God. I would maintain my place in this marriage and offer only words of encouragement, because like I told you before, I love to build.

Sometimes watching things fall apart is fun too, but not at the expense of someone's feelings. Kind of like someone knocking over what you just built. Not so fun!