Barn Praising

If you’ve been following along with our barn updates, it’s time for a barn-praising! We had a barn-raising in 1999 when my husband, his dad, and my dad built a simple barn out of rough-cut lumber. Just as in life, we did not know what experiences would unfold in that barn. We only hoped for horses and a tractor. God had so much more in mind.

If you’re just now joining us on this journey, allow me to share the “nutshell.” In January 2021, we began a family project in the midst of the pandemic. Because we have friends and family with comfort levels across the spectrum concerning the virus, we wanted to create a place where everyone could gather and be at ease. We didn’t mind if they shared our viewpoints or not, we just longed to gather again with the people we love.

Another reason we began this project, is my husband is a year-round griller. He loves fellowshipping over meat. We’ve always wanted a more shaded place to do this. The barn sat vacant of animals for at least four or five years. Instead of it continuing to collect dust and junk, we decided to repurpose it as a gathering place.

Due to time constraints and the price of building materials, this project is slow-going. We are still reworking the tack room into a food prep area. I’m excited about incorporating some family history into our renovations. We plan to use old tin salvaged from my husband’s grandfather’s dairy barn.

There’s a lot of work still to be done. However, we are celebrating how God is already working through this project.

Patience & Wisdom

The project turned out to be more work than we thought it would be. Cleaning out the clutter and the layers of dirt which had collected over twenty years was not fun. But it was necessary.

As our family has worked alongside one another, we’ve grown to appreciate each other’s strengths. “Grown to appreciate” means we’re learning not everyone will think alike or do things in the same manner.

A family project of this size requires listening and compromising. Individual projects are carried out according to the individual. But family projects provide opportunities to discover and develop the talents of each family member.

It takes patience and wisdom to learn a new skill. Often times, it requires even more so from those of us who must step aside and let someone else work in the areas where we may be more experienced.

As parents, we teach our kids. It’s not an easy task when we must step aside and let them implement what they’ve been taught.  Frequently, that means learning by trial and error. We often want to hurry the process along in hopes of avoiding prolonged suffering or embarrassment—for them and for us. But, we know if we offer healthy encouragement and give them time, they’ll eventually get it. We hope.

Patience and wisdom is a two-way street. As simple as it sounds, it still requires God’s direction in navigating it.

So, we are praising our heavenly Father for teaching all of us through His great patience and wisdom.

Encouragement

We’ve found we don’t need heating, air-conditioning, or anything fancy to use the barn to minister to others.

The barn provides a quiet and private place to meet with those who need a friend to listen. God is using our rustic barn as a venue to encourage and comfort people.

We’ve met with people who longed to get out of their isolation, For some, that has been for a year. Others began to shutter themselves into isolation years ago.

People in the ministry who need encouragement have sat around our rusty fire pit and felt the warmth of God’s beautiful love.

Sitting around a picnic table of paper plates and grilled burgers, we’ve grieved with and prayed with those going through a loss or a life struggle. We hope they left filled with the hope of the Comforter.

Barn Praising

And there have been times of great joy in the barn. An Easter celebration, a baby shower, and a Mother’s Day lunch.

There’s something very fulfilling when family and friends are able to gather and reconnect with one another.

Sharing our life stories with one another and of how God is working in our lives stirs something within our hearts.

For my family, we often express that through music. It doesn’t matter how well someone plays an instrument or sings on key. All that matters, is the praise is sincerely offered to our Creator, our Lord and Savior.

Nothing compares to God’s infinite love and concern for His children. With great wisdom, He shows mercy through each thing He either allows or initiates. Everything has a season and a purpose.

Usually, we only concentrate on the moment at hand. But, praise God, He sees far beyond that.  

Our little barn was salvaged out of thick dirt and dilapidation. It has been cleaned out and repurposed. Because it’s built of earthly materials and because it sits in the middle of a worldly field, it’ll always be a work-in-progress, until the day it’s finally served its last purpose.

We look forward to many more barn-praising sessions and to what God is going to do in our barn.

Have you witnessed God working through difficult situations? How do you praise Him?