What I learned from a building . . .

We've got a lot of stuff. Our attic is full of stuff. Our garage is full of stuff. We've got stuff inside, stuff outside. That stuff just keeps accumulating.

So . . . we've taken the leap and bought a 30 by 30 metal building - you know. . . just in case we somehow get more stuff. Anyway, it's scheduled to be delivered tomorrow and for the last few days a crew of workers have been getting the ground ready for the building.

First, several trees and bushes needed to be cleared out. That was easy enough. The guy clearing some land for my dad next door made quick work of the trees and bushes - he's there clearing some land next door that my dad just purchased. From there the crew of workers took over, each one appearing to know exactly what needed to be done to get the ground ready for the concrete slab to be poured - each one moving about with a purpose. I could tell that they'd done this before. They were busy measuring, cutting wood and hammering stakes. It took them about two days to create the wooden form that would hold the concrete slab in place while it dried.

Yesterday, I got a call from the boss man who said that because of the slope on our land we needed some dirt brought in to level it up. He explained that it would be a whole lot cheaper to bring in some dirt than to fill it with extra cement. And so that's what we did. At about 2:00 today, a huge dumptruck full of dirt was pulling through our yard to get to the building site. He unloaded in less than a minute and was on his way. For the rest of the day, the crew worked to spread and compact the dirt. What started as two big piles of dirt was soon spread over the whole area. By six o'clock, the dirt was spread, compacted and ready to accept the truckloads of cement scheduled to be delivered in the morning.

What intrigues me most about the whole process is the care that is taken to prepare the foundation for this building. I can't help but think of the Bible verses that talk about building on Rock, a solid foundation, one that won't get washed away. As I go back and think about the process, I remember the boss man saying that the footers on one side needed to go a little deeper because of the sandy ground on that side. He said that they needed to go deeper to get on a little firmer ground, so everything would be stable. When I asked him about what kind of dirt to get to fill-in with, sand or some other kind of dirt, he said to order dirt - not sand - because it would pack better and hold stronger. That makes sense. At another time we were talking about the concrete slab itself. He told me that a slab of that size would crack, that's just how it goes, but they would put some "lines" (can't remember what he called them) in the concrete that would help control the cracks. I thought that was a pretty cool idea.

After all that I've seen the workers do over the last few days, I have a newfound respect for the whole process of installing a concrete slab. Great care and time goes into making sure the foundation is solid and sure. And, knowing that the slab will crack, steps are taken to help minimize and control them. It sounds like a great parallel to life, don't you think?

We should all take great care and time preparing ourselves - our attitudes, our education, our skill set, etc. - so we have a firm, solid base to build any endeavor upon, whether it be a way of life, a career goal or a hobby. And, because we're human, we know that we will have faults - our foundation will probably have faults - but we take steps to prepare for those faults - to help control them. It's impossible to know how many faults will come or when they'll come. We just hope that we've prepared our foundation, our life, as best we can and that when challenges come, we plan - and actively work - to overcome them. What do you think?