The Barn Project: Beginnings

A few months ago I remember walking through the yard and finding Stewart standing, staring at the old cabin and camper. I stood next to him and stared for awhile, hoping I’d figure out what exactly we were looking at. I didn’t, and eventually asked and got an answer that didn’t surprise me much.

You see, Stewart often sits and stares while he is trying to decide how he will go about his next project. I’ve seen him do it on fencing and housing and many other projects around the homestead over the years. How he gets beyond this point into the doing is beyond me since I would become crippled in the fear of whether I was making the right decision.

But forge ahead he does and this time it had to do with the barn. He was considering putting a new small barn just next to the old roof line that sat over the camper and cabin. But I found out that day that he figured why not just utilize the original roof line and tear down what we’d been meaning to get rid of for sometime.

So, for several weeks, tearing down the old cabin was the project. Once that was complete, Stewart began making plans to remove the camper. Mr. Sifford graciously allowed us to borrow his truck and another neighbor did the driving while Stewart directed traffic.

Once the area beneath the roof was clear, it was time to make some more decisions. What to build with, what to build with? Around this same time our van was in the shop for several weeks and so using it to pull the trailer to pick up materials was not an option. So we waited to see what we were to do.

Surely the Lord’s ways are above our own, able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.

Soon after the van returned, Stewart found a bunch of tin on Craig’s List for a very deep discount. He went out and picked up enough to act as outer walls on the barn, met some lovely people, and saved us a great deal in the process.

Last week, with the help of visiting family members, the barn construction got underway. And so I’ll share more on that next time, Lord willing.