The Lumberjack

My neighbor is a lumberjack. Or at least he thinks he is. Actually, he's a schoolteacher. However, his one, all-consuming pastime away from the classroom seems to be cutting firewood on his property in the woods behind my house. Granted, there's enough fallen timber back there from the big storm last year to build the Great Wall of Seaside. But really, who wakes up, sees that it is dumping snow and immediately thinks, "Hey, it's snowing! I better get out there in the sub-freezing weather and cut me up some firewood!"? It's not as if he hasn't been spending 40 hours a week cutting wood since last spring! He must have an underground lair somewhere with acres of wood stacked and ready to provide heat for his family after the nuclear apocalypse. He's really a nice guy, but I'm afraid that he may need an intervention.

It gets a little uncomfortable at times because the windows in our living room look out towards his little logging operation. Sometimes I feel a twinge of guilt as I switch on our gas fireplace, put in a DVD and curl up with Camille to lounge on the couch as he is hitching logs to the come-along behind his truck or splitting wood like he is in one of those lumberjack contests. Or maybe it's just annoyance at the fact that I have to turn the volume on the surround-sound up loud enough to hear the movie over the chainsaw. I tell myself that he probably has a gas fireplace in his house too. This is just how he unwinds. I surf, he wrestles logs in the freezing mud. To each his own, man.

When he's not actually engaged in dissecting trees, he is usually walking around the perimeters of his property with his dog, surveying his little kingdom like Caesar inspecting his troops. Sometimes I try to picture what is going on in his head. He seems to be quite satisfied with himself. But I can't help but wonder if his Napoleon-esque gait isn't hiding the fact that he is secretly terrified of the day when there will be no more fallen trees to cut and stack. I must admit that I admire his industrious-ness. Maybe next Christmas I will have a truck full of timber secretly unload more logs by the dead of night onto his property just to give him a reason to go on for another year. Like I said, I really do like the guy. God bless him.

As I awoke to the sound of the chainsaw this morning, I thought of the Proverb about the industrious ant. Proverbs 6:6-11 says - "Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, [And] gathers her food in the harvest. How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep--so shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, and your need like an armed man."

Maybe it was the snow, maybe it was the fact that I was still in bed and he was laboring away...I just couldn't help but think that as funny as his incessant wood-cutting is, he has been paying attention to that ant. His family will definitely not go cold this winter! Whether he knows it or not, he is heeding Biblical advice and will be reaping the fruits of his obedience to God's principles. Having talked to him quite a bit (usually while he's re-filling his chain-saw with gas), I'm pretty sure he gets it.

It's funny that I've never really been too annoyed about being awakened to the sound of that saw. Camille and I both work nights, so naturally we sleep in a little later that our neighbors. But deep down inside, I have always respected his work ethic. I know that his job of teaching Jr. High kids is enough to wear anyone out. But he never fails to put in hours of hard labor before or after school. Seriously - I think the Energizer Bunny may have met his match! We joke about him a lot, but for me, it's never without a little respect. There have been days when I really don't want to mow the lawn or scrub the kitchen floor. But then I hear that chainsaw and it motivates me out of my laziness.

I've mentioned before that I'm a pretty decent procrastinator. Actually, I'm probably closer to the Semi-Pro level. Having 'The Lumberjack' next-door to us has actually helped me become more of a novice procrastinator. I like that. It's funny how God always seems to place us right where we need to be. I'm not saying that my life was a downward spiral of chronic slothfulness before we lived next to 'The Lumberjack'. I am just giving God the head-nod for giving me a tangible reminder to act more like the ant.

I'm not sure how all of this speaks to you personally. Maybe it is a call to get motivated. Maybe it will remind you that God has you right where He wants you to be right now. Maybe this will cause you to stop and listen to what He may be trying to teach you through 'The Lumberjack' in your life. Maybe it's just a reminder to love your neighbor, no matter how loud his chainsaw is. All I know is that in a funny way, I am grateful to have 'The Lumberjack' for a neighbor.