I have officially worked more than one day framing houses with Peter and therefore have earned the Monarch Framing T-shirt. I felt a little out of the loop since everyone he knows has one. And I didn't want to settle for the "I'm a girlfriend of a Monarch framer" t-shirt. Especially since those don't exist yet anyway.
I don't think my body has ever been worked so hard in my life. I'm beginning to realize how uncoordinated and unconditioned by body really is. My legs are almost one big bruise, and the other day it was hard to lift anything above shoulder height... and then Peter gave me the job of putting windows in... requiring me to hammer nails (uh... work with me coordination!!!) above my head (go shoulder muscles! You can do it!). It's incredibly weird to be able to apply what I learned this last semester to my body right now... I can name all the muscles that are sore (including the tibialis anterior and peroneous muscles in my legs from lifting my feet covered in inches of thick clay mud) and tell you why they're sore, as well as realizing that my arm muscles reached their maximal aerobic capacity bombing 4 by 7 feet sheets of plywood from the ground outside to the second story of the house. I took today off because I was so exhausted and my ankle hurt from falling off a ladder. I iced my ankle, and slept in until 1:00. Thankfully, I have not shot myself with the nail gun yet. But I still have another week to go... If I make it. On top of the physical is the emotional... and the feelings of inadequacy and discouragement as I can't figure out how to do tasks, or because it takes me at least three times longer than anyone else to get an otherwise simple job done. Thankfully the people I work with are friends, and are Christians, and are good encouragers... or they just laugh at me, making me realize that it's really not a big deal. I've cried a little, but I'm sure it could have been much much much worse! And I've learned some sweet skills... chalk line skills, skill saw skills, staple gun skills, tape measure skills, carrying plywood and other large heavy objects skills...
But with all the time taken to be a baby-framer (or a "new guy" as I'm called), I have inadvertently neglected spending quality time with God. I think God has used the people I've been around to hold me up pretty good, even though they may not even realize it. Without one of the guys I worked with the other day singing a song about Jesus as he searched for a 2 by 6, and without knowing the perspective that Peter and many of his friends bring to life and work, I probably would have quit the first day. It's really neat to see the difference knowing God makes in people's lives... especially in the trades (I would say it's very beautiful, but that might sound weird since they're mostly guys out there). And I know that God can hold me up all on His own even when my mind is not really focused on Him. He quite often does things like that- working in my life and probably even through my life- without me even knowing about it. I was reading in Colossians today about two things: 1) setting my mind on things above and 2) doing everything in my day in the name of Jesus and giving thanks through it all. As much as problem solving and planning how I'm going to go about doing a task takes up so much of my brain power and energy, I hope that through it all my mindset and actions will be pleasing to God, and that I will be thankful while going about all of it. That should take care of my reactions to swear, to complain, to cry, and to be stuck in discouragement. After all, wood being fashioned into a house is only an earthly thing in and of itself.
I don't think my body has ever been worked so hard in my life. I'm beginning to realize how uncoordinated and unconditioned by body really is. My legs are almost one big bruise, and the other day it was hard to lift anything above shoulder height... and then Peter gave me the job of putting windows in... requiring me to hammer nails (uh... work with me coordination!!!) above my head (go shoulder muscles! You can do it!). It's incredibly weird to be able to apply what I learned this last semester to my body right now... I can name all the muscles that are sore (including the tibialis anterior and peroneous muscles in my legs from lifting my feet covered in inches of thick clay mud) and tell you why they're sore, as well as realizing that my arm muscles reached their maximal aerobic capacity bombing 4 by 7 feet sheets of plywood from the ground outside to the second story of the house. I took today off because I was so exhausted and my ankle hurt from falling off a ladder. I iced my ankle, and slept in until 1:00. Thankfully, I have not shot myself with the nail gun yet. But I still have another week to go... If I make it. On top of the physical is the emotional... and the feelings of inadequacy and discouragement as I can't figure out how to do tasks, or because it takes me at least three times longer than anyone else to get an otherwise simple job done. Thankfully the people I work with are friends, and are Christians, and are good encouragers... or they just laugh at me, making me realize that it's really not a big deal. I've cried a little, but I'm sure it could have been much much much worse! And I've learned some sweet skills... chalk line skills, skill saw skills, staple gun skills, tape measure skills, carrying plywood and other large heavy objects skills...
But with all the time taken to be a baby-framer (or a "new guy" as I'm called), I have inadvertently neglected spending quality time with God. I think God has used the people I've been around to hold me up pretty good, even though they may not even realize it. Without one of the guys I worked with the other day singing a song about Jesus as he searched for a 2 by 6, and without knowing the perspective that Peter and many of his friends bring to life and work, I probably would have quit the first day. It's really neat to see the difference knowing God makes in people's lives... especially in the trades (I would say it's very beautiful, but that might sound weird since they're mostly guys out there). And I know that God can hold me up all on His own even when my mind is not really focused on Him. He quite often does things like that- working in my life and probably even through my life- without me even knowing about it. I was reading in Colossians today about two things: 1) setting my mind on things above and 2) doing everything in my day in the name of Jesus and giving thanks through it all. As much as problem solving and planning how I'm going to go about doing a task takes up so much of my brain power and energy, I hope that through it all my mindset and actions will be pleasing to God, and that I will be thankful while going about all of it. That should take care of my reactions to swear, to complain, to cry, and to be stuck in discouragement. After all, wood being fashioned into a house is only an earthly thing in and of itself.
I've heard the first week is the hardest... we'll see what next week has in store! Pray that it won't rain... I'm learning to despise mud on my boots. Lack of coordination + extra mud distributed unevenly across the bottom of my foot + slippery wood surfaces = something potentially disasterous.
3 comments:
Way to go girl! I don't know if I'd ever take something like that on. Hope your muscle's are feeling better!!!
I like your list o' skills...these will be very useful! Have fun at CROW. Much love...
:) i enjoyed reading this Candice. it's been fun to work with you. you're a trooper!
loves,
Michelle
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