Living Hazzardously

Little pieces of our journey with Jesus

Pages

Caution! Doors and wind and cussing ahead.

by

As we round the corner of this journey, we see a bit of light… is it the light at the end of the tunnel or is it the headlamp of a locomotive? Jess and I have no doubt this work is manifesting in the culmination of God’s good calling on our life. Even when we get hit, we rebound and things work out just fine. 

Last week we pulled the old door out and found a hole where we needed some bagged concrete in the threshold, so we cleaned it out, formed it up and poured it full. NO PROBLEM! Then a fast moving weather front came into town and we needed to cover the masterpiece of bagged concrete that my puppies decided was the only place to “plant the paws” as they blew past the yellow ribbon blocking any reasonable person from crossing… dogs are not human, they don’t even read… “Caution” 

As the weather front started to roll into town I made the quick decision to cover the concrete with plastic to protect it from the impending rain that would surely transition the fresh concrete into a slurry of gravel. 

BUT! The wind hit with no warning and hit so hard and so unpredictably.. I heard the crash, felt the floor shake and turned quickly to see the brand new door that we had leaned into the corner of the entry, laying in a manner that was so unnatural… I instantly recognized the structure surrounding now looked like a bone protruding from a compound fracture… I proclaimed “SHOOT” but it wasn’t the word shoot that flew out of my mouth… The next day I spent a few hours putting humpty back together… you can still see the scar, but it’s fixed, and perhaps it is stronger than the original? 

We waited another day before moving the new door into position, just to give the repair time to cure. The installation went well the next day and I was so grateful for the help I had as we guided the door into its final resting place. 

As I reflected on how quickly my colorful expletive slipped out of my mouth, I remembered where I came from and how my father would have screamed and cussed for hours after something like that. I remembered how he would have thrown tools, smashed anything in his reach, “spanked me” for not preventing this tragedy… Stuff would fly and cussing was normal. The wake of terror I experienced whenever my father was around created more havoc and destruction in my life than I could have imagined and it haunts me still to this day… I remembered I learning how my grandfather would have likely beat my father in this same situation… Looking back and realizing I may have thrown out a cuss word, without restraint, but my legacy, like my father before me, was coming from a long line of abuse. I should just thank God we have come so far from where my grand-father was to where my sons are… Legacy is all I can leave behind for my future family.!  I know I will never even meet many of my future family members but as My father never met my sons and I never met my grandfather, I can still honor them with my legacy… I Pray this trend upwards will continue for many generations. 

I am hoping to start painting no later than Wednesday. God willing, I will have help. But early this coming week, I have to focus on a few items for work. I wish I could just go and paint, but I do have other obligations. So like Nehemiah, we will continue to work on the things I am called to do and praise God for all the help we are getting.  

There is a time, turn, turn, turn…

by

I believe everyone has an “Attitude” and that attitude is a window to the soul.

Mornings are my favorite time of day, but why? Well, the morning holds a promise of joy and things to come, the evening brings reflection of struggles that brought joy and perhaps a discontented and joyless day. The coming day is always filled with hope, mornings are never a disappointment, rather a hope for joy. 

What a week! We worked very hard and got so much done, we still have a long way to go. Just to recap the week:

Monday & Tuesday were set into play for the preparation of Wednesday… A friend from church loaned us his scaffolding on Sunday and we set it up Monday, Tuesday was more prep… and finally Wednesday… As I struggled to find hope of success for the day and false discouragement was nipping at my heels, I discovered God’s renewed hope like the first light of daybreak. Noon came with a flow of guys showing up to replace the windows, and it all went so very well. Eleven windows from noon to four or was it five pm. I lost track of the time as my body started to feel the results of the hard work on a hot day but the results are from GOD, like a well tended garden, we can not make the garden grow but we can plant and water the garden.. And today was that day of growth. 

With Wednesday behind us, Thursday opened a renewed perspective that led to success, 5 more windows for a total of 16! One more to go in this phase, but this one must wait for the right timing as we have a few other obstacles to deal with to gain access. 

Besides a five window day, we had the guys from Northome DAC come over and fill the dumpster with yet another load of junk from the previous era. Four guys that are so happy to have a job, Four guys that understand having purpose and value with the work of their hands!!

At Church we are going through a study on Ecclesiastes,  this book of the old testament wisdom literature reminds me that purpose and meaning in life are things to strive after in every situation and season. It reminds me that everything under heaven has a “time”, or perhaps you remember it a “season”… Either way, you may remember it, most folks recognize it as a song… But is it true?  “A time for love and a time for hate?” The day after Donald Trump was shot, do we still believe there is a time for HATE? If you understand hating evil in this world then you do believe there is a time for HATE… I hate that the man behind Trump died, I hate that I see people suffering, or killing their children… I hate everyday, But that doesn’t mean I hate the person that shot and killed an innocent man that was in the line of fire, nor should you. 

You see, it makes me so sad that another person can only find hate in their heart that they would wish for another person to die, yes, I said wish… not even try to kill another person but rather to wish harm on another person… we are all created in the image of our creator and so hating another person is kin to hating oneself, as we are all in the image of God, we are not GOD nor will we ever be GOD… yet there it is, “A time to hate” 

All things in the proper order… We couldn’t install windows until first the old windows were carefully removed and the correct preparations were made, to allow for the next “TIME” to happen… “A time to install windows and a time to remove windows”

So I leave you with this note: A time to die and a time to be born… Although this man behind Trump was devalued by the shooter to the point the shooter didn’t care about collateral damage, that man is loved and missed forever. I don’t know all the details, but I do know this.. There is a time for every purpose under heaven and we should never waste the time given to us, we can never purchase our wasted time back and reuse it for good!

Thank you for all the help with windows this week and let me not fail to mention the guy that started making the old stairs and deck disappear before somebody got killed using them… more about this another day. 

God Bless and may His hand guide your steps today.

Charlie

What a beautiful mess

by

What a beautiful mess! I know this is a huge undertaking and I know how disciplined I will need to stay in order to accomplish what needs to be done. Or at least I think I do… 

So far, I have moved all the beds, chairs, dressers, lamps & old tv sets out of the first wing… The first wing is now empty of furniture! The previous era has come to an end and the new is beginning. I have discovered that no mask can truly combat Carpet soaked in cat pee, ohh how I despise cat pee.

This week I have been working on emptying all the rooms and getting things ready for paint, disconnecting the old boilers so I can pressure test the radiators. Good news, they held pressure for two days straight. Now I can start planning the new heating plant, prepping rooms for paint, floor repairs and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning…  I have some trim to replace and floors to seal, holes to patch and cracks to cure. I may move them old cast iron radiators into the hall to get the rooms ready for painting and flooring, shouldn’t be too bad as each one has unions. 

We are on the hunt for an economical vinyl plank (or something) to just cover the floor. If the floors last 5 years? Fantastic! If not? We will address that in the future, today is all about “price”. I have always been a “value shopper” and never have I been a “price hunter” … it’s oddly strange and goes against my natural desire. The best value is my normal… never just the bottom line. Being a small business owner, I understand value. Every so often I get a customer that is a “price hunter”. When price is all that matters, it’s hard to sell value.

I thought a short history lesson may be fun. I sat down this morning and studied the abstract, just to get a decent feel for what has gone on in the past. 

This is a story of a piece of land in Northern Itasca County… In the beginning the land was filled with rich large PINE timber

In the year 1906 the land was deeded from the United States to Ed Shultis, in 1908 it became the third addition to the village of Bigfork. Around 1912 an easement was established by Minneapolis and Rainy railroad; this is now the foot bridge crossing the river near the north end of town, don’t get it mistaken with the old railroad trestle. 

In 1938-41 The cornerstone was set for a rural Hospital. The first doctor was hired, his name was Dr Bender (I’m not sure if he practiced Chiropractics or not). North Itasca Hospital Association opened what is possibly the first rural hospital in Minnesota; we are still trying to “verify” this.

In 1957 an addition was made off the east side of the building, adding 4 beds, a Dr office, a Dentist office & a kitchen.

In 1965 the new hospital opened, and this hospital was closed. The building was then sold to Leisure Hills Inc. For many years the building was operated as a retirement facility which is extremely surprising as there is no elevator, chair lift or ramp to get into the lower level for dinner.  

From 1981-2024 the building had at least three new owners and was named “Riverside Residence”. The old building sat there year after year waiting for someone to come along and love it back to health, the electrical just kept getting older, the roofing just leaked more, and the carpet just absorbed more cat pee. Windows would give into the constant nagging winters and lack of paint would allow the water to take away the only barrier between the Minnesota cold and the warmth of the cast iron radiators that were working overtime. 

Some call it fate, I call it “divine appointment” 

On March 6, 2024, at approximately 2pm, I walked into the building for the first time and met the owner. I noticed a few guys, one I knew as “Coffee Cup Ron” his room was just to the left of the front door, he looked tired and weak as he made his way into his small room and sat down on the bed, I saw him later on my way out again in a “near collapsed state” on one of the nearby chairs. As the owner brought me downstairs to the boiler room, I had observed a few areas of the building that were “interesting”. I stepped past the makeshift double doors into the boiler room, and I gasped at what I saw. There, in the middle of a crowded room sat four boilers, three oil and one propane (the propane boiler isn’t connected to anything) The three boilers that were connected were in an extremely distressed condition, anything but a safe condition and I feared for the residents that had no options but to continue living directly above a virtual time bomb. 

A closer inspection revealed one boiler had an attempted repair using epoxy on a cracked section of the cast iron boiler… epoxy? The owner commented she had a handyman make an attempt at repairing this… I shuddered a bit at that thought. I have seen the destructive power of boilers that were operated improperly, I have seen it and I have the utmost respect for this scenario. I tried to not show fear on my face, but that was hard. In my veins I felt a slight chill as I recounted my qualifications as a chief boiler operator and the responsibility that title holds. 

 The building was dotted with small electric heaters, doors to bathrooms were locked but I could see the sewage leaking out from under the door. The floors were wet more than dry and later I would discover it is in part a sewer back up and in part leaking water lines that had been patched over the years and never actually repaired.

As I revealed the truth about her boilers, the owner broke down into tears.  As I explained, the only way to fix this is a full replacement of the system, she slumped down in despair. It was at that very moment I was completely overwhelmed with the one thought: I knew I needed to go home and talk to Jess; I knew we needed to figure out a way to buy this building, I knew we needed to fix it up, I knew we needed to provide a better home for the guys living there.

I won’t reveal more of that day and the emotions that led to the horrible situation.  I was starting to better understand. It must have been so hard to struggle to keep going every day, thinking about the difficulties she had to deal with, to just to manage this monster of a building, to see how much she cared for the guys living there. This was truly heartwarming. Covid was harder than some may think, covid was a back breaker and she was crushed. 

As time went on, Jess and I both understood it was our mission to lead this building back into a usable condition and so we took God’s lead and jumped in. Jumping into a beautiful mess. But that cat pee is a killer.