Gracepoint Fellowship Church - Gracepoint Berkeley Koinonia HG7: [Gracepoint Fellowship Church :: Koinonia Berkeley HG 7 [R.E.D.]] Sierra Barn...

Saturday, September 27, 2008

[Gracepoint Fellowship Church :: Koinonia Berkeley HG 7 [R.E.D.]] Sierra Barn...

I love the Sierra Lodge. More specifically - I love building the Sierra Lodge. My knowledge of 'building things' before Gracepoint started this house consisted of assembling IKEA desks and installing drywall anchors. But through the many trips to the Lodge, I got to see so much of the process: foundation, walls, floor joists, roof trusses, electrical, plumbing - and countless other steps in between. I learned what blocking was and why it's important, what insulation is made of, how to rack and square a wall, top-plating, how to toenail, and the list goes on.

Honestly, I don't know why I enjoy it so much. Maybe it's because of the tools (the air-pressured jolt of a nail gun is a distinct joy). Or maybe it's being able to take innocuous pieces of lumber, cut and nail them together to form a wall which will then connect with other walls to form a house. Or maybe it's just the simplicity of it all, and I can temporarily forget about work and all the other stresses, and just concentrate on driving that 16d nail into the wood with a few satisfying strikes of a framing hammer.

But this past year, the work on the house mostly finished. It felt weird to come to the house and not really have anything to work on. My tools lay unused in my garage. Until, that is, a couple weeks ago: work commenced on the new Sierra 'Barn'! This past weekend, I was able to take a couple days off and join other brothers from Gracepoint and Waypoint to complete the walls. The walls came pre-fabricated, so we would just need to get all the walls installed before the end of the weekend so that the roofing could continue as planned (but harder than it sounds!).

But it's not just labor for the sake of labor. We're a big believer in working hard together towards a common goal - the Sierra Lodge has already been used so much by so many groups (JOYLand, Element retreats, discipleship retreats, bible teacher's training, Waypoint...). This new structure will only increase the capacity of our land in the Sierras, allowing even more people to enjoy God's nature and enjoy good, clean, Christian fellowship.

Never been there? Don't worry - there will be chances this semester and throughout the year. Want to share in the joy of helping construct this wonderful place (or just want to use some power tools)? Let me know. Have some favorite moments from the Lodge? Leave a comment.

Now some pictures!