For as long as I’ve known Mark, he’s been telling me that he wanted to put a tree house (read guest room/office) in his tree in his front yard. For as long as I’ve known him, I wanted to join him in this crazy idea. Finally, this last Christmas, while Shannon and I were having breakfast with Mark and Kathleen in their home, it came up again.

• I said, “I want to fly up for a weekend and help.”
• He said, “Name the date this spring and you’re on. I’ll buy your plane ticket.”
• I said, “Are you serious?”
• He said, “Dead serious.”
• I said, “Carve it in stone. I’m on booking a flight.”

Then, for almost 4 months, on my calendar have been three large words spanning 3 days in April: “BUILD TREE HOUSE”.

And last Thursday, it happened. I cannot even begin to describe the level of excitement I had for this project. I think it was only surpassed by Mark’s own. He’s been dreaming this idea for like 40 years he says- since he was 4 years old. Ever since then, he’s been reading books and drawing sketches and day dreaming of this project. He’s been saving old redwood beams and such for 4 years. He’s been talking and praying and staring every day at a giant black acacia tree in his front yard for 15+ years- all the while thinking, “I’ve got to put a house in this tree.”

When I arrived on Thursday morning about 9am, I found 4 steel poles – 7 feet in the ground in concrete and standing some 24 feet off the street level. There were piles of lumber and old doors and windows and tools and rope and pulleys and a few random ladders leaning here and there and 3 other guys ready to help.

Mark gave me a hug and said, “It’s good to see you brotha.” I said, “You too. Let’s do this.”

12 hours later, day 1 was over and we stood on the ground looking up a crazy staircase leading to a 9 foot walkway to a deck… all surrounded by bare posts that would soon hold the hand rails for both the entrance to the house and it’s side deck. 4 large ones would eventually become the corners of the building.

Day 2 began at 7am with breakfast. It ended at 9pm with a beer and a euphoric conversation, still mesmerized by the fact that the deck now had a 4 walls, a vaulted ceiling roof with double dormers, and almost all the hand rails… including an amazing copper pipe railing up the staircase that one of Mark’s friends and co-workers, Jaime, had made. It was truly a sight to behold.

Day 3 began just as early, but due to a plane flight, would end around 5pm for me. But when it was all said and done- before I left- all the windows where installed (including 2 operable dormer windows, a bay window and 2 side sliders), the front french door was in, and the back double french doors leading onto the observation deck were completed. Final bolts were drilled and a skirt was added to the bottom. And believe it or not, none of it touched the tree, but instead just gracefully wrapped around it and rested on the almost ignored steel beams below. All that was left was some trim and for the cedar shingles to be added as siding and on the roof. It was and is a pretty awesome sight.

I’ll make you wait no further. Here’s a before and after pic, somewhat sheltered from view by the tree itself.

Here’s a progress collage.

Here’s my lifes 2 big life lessons/learnings as a result of this grand project. I could write a book on it really… but for the sake of your time… I’ll limit it to two lessons:

#1. I LOVE PEOPLE WHO SEE A PROBLEM, AND DON’T QUIT. I LOVE THE RUSH OF BEING PART OF THE SOLUTION.

Hands down, my favorite parts of this project happened on 3 occasions.

• The first was the successful installment of a HUGE 4×10- 20 foot long beam right up and through the saddle of the tree like 30 minutes into the build. It must have weighed 500 pounds and when it went up and into the slots prepared for it, like we knew what we were doing and with great ease, it was a huge rush. I screamed “YES. THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT.” I knew this project was going to be a rush.
• Second occasion was later that day: 2 workers had left, the sun had already set and all that remained was a few final rays of light and 4 of us pondering a 20 foot 2×12 staircase that was built but still needed to be installed. We couldn’t leave it on the ground. It felt too much like defeat. 2 ropes. 2 pulleys. 4 guys pulling with all their might. Some crazy ideas. And eventually, the tug of a tractor… we finally got it into place. It gave me my second opportunity to yell, “YES. THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT.”
• Third was the end of day 2, staring up at the tree and realizing that just a few days ago, it was empty and now, was very clearly…. a house built for a tree. It was amazing. Especially since I know that mentally… 2 or 3 times in the weeks before, the project was almost called off due to fear of the risk and the impossibility this project had looming all around it. To see it have a form was beyond words.

#2. I LOVE BUILDING THINGS. I REALLY DO.

• I love building people.
• I love building dreams and visions.
• I love building stuff with my hands and wood.

• This project inhabited all three of those things. It was for a great friend and brother in Christ. It was ALL about a dream and a vision. It involved my hands and wood. I think it was heaven. I absolutely loved it. In fact, I loved it so much I felt guilty that maybe I shouldn’t love it this much. It was pure, 100 %, uninhibited fun-filled joy. It was my sweet spot- literally what I would do every day in one form or another if I could. Every swing of the hammer. Every lift of the board. Every decision. Every problem to solve. Every conversation. Every ounce of sweat poured was worth it. I LOVED THIS PROJECT.

THANKS GOD. THANKS MARK. THANKS FOR AN AMAZING GIFT IN THIS SHORT LIFE. WHAT A JOY.

Jake went on his first plane ride ever on Thursday. Just he and I, on a trip to hang with the papas and grandmas and to build a tree house for a friend (more on that in my next post).

As for first plane trips, when you’re four, all firsts are pretty unique anyway. But an airport, I discovered, is not a location where planes live, it evidently is the birthplace of questions.

Seeing the world of air flight through the eyes of a four year old was fun. I found out online that before the plane takes off, you can go in the cockpit. So, Jake got to meet the pilot and sit in his seat. But, I had 2 observations through the eyes of Jake as I re-experienced the world of flight from a different vantage point.

When you’re four, you can’t see over the seat in front of you. You can’t see behind you. All you know is that your Dad is with you and there is stuff out the window. It requires some faith to believe that the plane is actually going where they say it is. When Jake got off the plane, he had so little perspective on what we did that when he saw the gangway in Oakland he asked me if this was a different airport from the one we left. As far as he was concerned. We got in a plane. The scenery changed out the window, and for all he knew, we could have gone in a big circle and landed right back where we started from.

Life is like that. No matter how much you think you know… it’s pretty much only the view out the side window of history. Most of the past is unknown; as is the future. We adults can get a fairly presumptuous view of ourselves and reality. Most of what we “know” however is very little of what is “known” to God.

Once our plane “blasted off” according to Jake, we went like straight up. And here in San Diego the sun was up, but “may gray” has come a day or two early and the entire shoreline is blanketed in clouds. (May and June are not the best months to visit SD if you’re planning on baking in the sun on the beach.) So anyway, not long after we left the ground, we found ourselves in the clouds. This, only lasts a few seconds. During which time I told Jake the white fog we could see meant we were in a cloud and in a minute we’d be on top of them. This was a crazy thought for Jake… to be on top of the clouds. But as soon as we broke through, we saw the most amazing sight…. clouds as far as the eye can see and the bright sun bouncing off their pillow like shapes. Jake only said one thing. Really loud.

At this moment, I realized why 4 year olds were the ones Jesus loved. I know why we must become like children. It’s cuz they see God more. It’s not because they are too naive to know better. It’s because as adults we are too distracted. There’s like 150 adults on our plane, most of whom missed the scene all together. They’re thinking things like:

Jake is not thinking any of this. He’s got his head peering out the window and his eyes are taking in the Glory of God’s Creation. We miss it most of the time. 2 days later, while almost done with our tree house project, I was standing at the entrance with Mark when I found myself eye-to-eye with a robin, some 30 feet up in a tree. I pointed to Mark and said, “WOW”. It’s moments like those that I miss all the time.

I think it’s sad to live a “wowless” life. I think I sadly, all too often, forget to say “wow”. I say it on vacation in the Caribbean while watching the sun set or eating an amazing meal or taking in the view of some tropical jungle. I say it at church sometimes. But daily, in my “normal” life, I find I have to force myself to not gravitate to the task at hand, missing the presence of the Lord. Missing the amazing beauty of creation. It’s all around. It’s declaring “WOW”.

So, thanks God. Thanks for the “WOOOOOOW” filled reminders of 4 year old eyes, still too amazed by the wonder of our world to be bored by it’s daily repetition.

Well, being the youngest of 3 boys has it’s set backs. Jake has seen me go to all his brothers field trips, so he was super excited that I was coming with him today to finally go on one with him. His pre-school went to the San Diego Zoo today.

But that’s only the start of “Jake Week”. On Thursday I’m flying to Northern California to help a friend build a massive “tree house/guest room” with a rope bridge from the house to a “deck” with french doors and a roof and everything, way up in their tree. It’s going to be tons of fun.

But, after talking it over with Shannon, at the last minute I decided to take Jake with me. So, he and I will get some “first time on a plane flight” bonding in. Then he’s spending Thursday with Grandma Cheryl, Friday with Papa Ken, and Saturday with Grandma Karen. He’ll spend the nights/evenings with me. He’s SOOO excited. He gets to go and his brothers do not. He thinks he’s KING!

Fun Times. Here’s a picture collage of our trip to the zoo today.

Last weekend, while in the desert, my canon powershot sd400 camera was in my pocket on the last day. I’m still not sure how, but sometime Sunday morning it evidently got hit. When I went to go take our group photo, I could not use the LCD to take the shot because it was broken. I was bummed. I really enjoy this camera and just bought a waterproof case for underwater shots and it’s no longer in production.

So, when I got home, I surfed the web a little and found some info. I called Canon and they said it was $107 and explained to me the process to get it back in 2 weeks.

Since the replacement on a new camera was considerably more than that, I decided to send it in. I next day aired it to them on last Monday. Upon arrival, they said they would examine it and call me with a specific quote. However, I did not hear back all week…. so on Friday, I called to see what was up.

That’s when I found out the news. They said they repaired it for FREE!!!! Go figure. I waited to post about it until I saw it with my own 2 eyes. And, it arrived in the mail today. One week to the day later.

Here’s what the paperwork said: “We have examined your equipment for the service you requested…. As part of Canon’s commitment to its customers, you can be assured that your equipment has been returned to Factory Specifications…. cost $0. Shipping. $0”

This is double amazing because I bought it “nearly new” almost a year ago off ebay. I don’t even have a factory receipt or purchase date or anything. They repaired it for free, no questions asked on an item their technician’s paperwork says “the display panel had suffered some kind of shock damage and the LCD panel was cracked.” They don’t even claim it was a product defect and I told them on the phone, that I thought I had cracked it somehow…. but I couldn’t say how.

GO FIGURE. WOW. THANKS CANON. YOU WON A LOYAL CUSTOMER.

One of the men/dads that went with us to the Desert is also a graphic designer for guns and ammo magazine I think. Or something like that. Anyway- last year and this year he handled all the safety with regards to shooting clay pigeons and such. Well, he also made some videos for us.

This year, he brought a very expensive video camera and made a flashback video of all the fire and explosions on this trip. From the video, it looks like all we did was blow stuff up, chuck rocks, and act like pyromaniacs with weapons…. (um, sorta guilty of that) but there was way more to this trip than that.. but you’ll have to trust me on that one. Especially since, the only spoken words in this entire 4 minute clip are mine. And I quote: “I got one more bullet, where do you want it.”

I’ll probably loose my job in San Diego and have 4 job offers in Arkansas as a result of this… but here it is on the glorious u-tube.