Hello All,
It's been a little while since our last update and there have been some changes at the building site. With mounds of dirt and topsoil surrounding the building's footprint and protecting it from our view, quite a bit has happened. The concrete forms were set, reinforcing rods were laid, concrete was poured, and the forms have been stripped away. THE FOUNDATION HAS BEEN LAID. LET'S GET BUILDING!! Let's get backfilling and get that deck down.
Whoa........Slow down........ Concrete is a interesting building material. It can be extremely strong or it can be very brittle, it all depends on how you take care of it in the beginning. Over time, as concrete dries, it cures and becomes stable and strong, BUT if it dries too quickly it can be brittle and weak. There are even times when intervention is required to slow down the actual drying time of concrete. I can recall one summer when I was younger and working with my father on a small project that required a concrete slab. After pouring the concrete and waiting a day for it to dry, I watched my father come out with a hose and spray water on the slab. Totally confused, thinking he had finally "lost it", with a confused look on my face I asked him, "We want this to dry, don't we? Kinda defeating the purpose, aren't we?" That's when I got my "learnin'" in concrete. It was too hot and it was drying too fast and if we left it be, the rest of the project would be compromised by the weak base, so we had to watch it and make sure it was forming properly.
We are building a Church and we want our church to be built on the strongest foundation possible, so that it will grow, flourish and thrive. The foundation needs to be strong enough to weather any storm, grounded enough to hold us firmly in place and true enough to pass any test. This church is not the building. This church is the fellowship of people seeking to know the one TRUE foundation, Jesus Christ. This foundation is found in our relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and like all relationships this TAKES TIME. This is not something that we can rush or deal with today, put on a shelf and pick up again next week. Our church's foundation, our relationship with Christ will take time and constant attention. This is crucial because everything we do, to the glory of God, is built upon this foundation.
Prayer request for the day: Just take time to talk to the Father.
Prayer quote for the day: Of all things, guard against neglecting God in the secret place of prayer. - William Wilberforce