Leadership Seminar...

Hello all!

This time I have a really good reason for not writing on here for a while: we were gone last week for a Men's Leadership Seminar in Berne, Indiana. It was an extremely refreshing and renewing kind of week with lots of wonderful fellowship, worship and singing, prayer and excellent teaching/preaching.

I wanted to share some of the quotes I took away from that week- these were some things that really struck me and did something in my heart and life. Be blessed and challenged as you read! Most of them are not direct quotes, and probably not verbatim, but i'll try to give credit to those from whom the original thought came from...

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"To be humbled is to have an outside influence (which starts/comes from the outside and goes inside) that exposes a person's true character to his/her self. To be humble is to have an inside influence (which starts/comes from the inside and goes outward) that exposes a person's true character to his/her self." (Paraphrased statement from a sermon by Dale Heisey)

"Preparation for the sermon is secondary/minor compared to life preparation- what happens in life will determine what happens in the pulpit. We would do well to prepare less for our sermons and prepare more for life..." (Unfortunately I cannot remember who said this...)

"Lord, make us Your poor ones..." (Again, I can't remember who said this- possibly Dale Gish)

"God will not look at what others thought of you in the judgement." (Dale Gish)

"People sometimes are afraid of education- but education should make us realize how very much we still have to learn." (John D. Martin)

"If you are a manipulator or a conniver, you are probably a fearful person." (Dale Heisey)

"There is a failure that helps more than success." (John D. Martin)

"We must share the truth; but there are two ways of doing that. Firstly, you can share the truth to show someone how wrong they are. Secondarily, you can share the truth to show someone what they can become." (John D. Martin)

"Respect people." (John D. Martin)

"We don't need a Declaration of Independence, we need a Declaration of Dependance!" (John D. Martin, on reliance on God)

"Sorrow defines the difference between happiness and joy." (John D. Martin, on true joy in trial)

***

There was so much more than just those few points, but I tell you what, my life was really challenged by those short quotes in particular! Coming back home has been an excellent opportunity to put all those things to practice. God has been very good!

On our way out there I drove with Dad, Marty and Leon. We left Monday before the conference and got back home the following Saturday...

On the road, headed for Indiana!

Indiana.

Unfortunately they didn't allow us to use cellphones during the conference, 

so I just never go around to taking pictures of the actual conference.

Yes, I know, that is an epic fail on my part- as a blogger, how can I tell you about an event and have no pictures? Sorry... :-/

On the way back...

Yes, boring...

Good ol' Iowa... not exactly exciting, but it is home :)

It is what you make it... :)

Sunset...

Dad and Leon, the official back-seat drivers :)

With the conference behind us, we started working again on Monday.

Having finished that large addition (yes, praise the Lord, it's done :D)

we move on to better things- like building a deck for Gram!

Here We had just broken up the old cement steps which were up against the house.

Dad and Josh, putting the "stringers" in place.

The finished product!

Gram comes out to survey the work. 

Everyone else came out too :) 

Aunt Carol was taking care of some ice on the cement below...

And this morning we had a light snow storm...

Dad and I cleaned up the trailer and after lunch we unloaded an order of materials from Menards...

Sunday.....

Don't have much time to write tonight, but here is a brief overview of the day...

Singing at the Griswold Care Center.

We try to go there once a month, singing and sharing a short sermon with the residents there.

Back at church, the children made a bunch of paper airplanes.

It was a mess by the time they finished, but everyone pitched in and cleaned up later :)

Most of the men at church, sitting around discussing various and sundry subjects.

Fellowship time is a wonderful opportunity to sharpen one another.

Tonight we celebrated Caleb's birthday, since us men will be away when his real birthday comes around on Tuesday. We'll be going to a leadership seminar in Indiana this week.

Thus, tomorrow at around 4am I'll be arising and packing up the van with Dad, Leon and Marty and heading out to Berne, IN. We'll be gone until Saturday. I'm really looking forward to the week of teaching and fellowship- it'll be very refreshing!!

God's blessings to each one of you tonight! Serve Him with gladness!

-nate

Splitting jobs- gutters and the addition...

Because of the immense amount of mud at the addition job, this week we would work there in the mornings until the frost melted. After that (usually around lunch), we went to another job... the "gutter job" 

The beautiful sunset from the gutter job...

A new gutter awaits installation at the foot of the porch.

The old gutter was already torn off.

It's a very pretty and nice house, except whoever did the vinyl siding made several big mistakes.

Oh well... :)

Truck, seamless gutter trailer, Ben's car.

Windmill...

Back home, the sunset in our background.

Here's an idea-

When you have no painters tape, can't find a trimming brush, tear off some drywall tape and use it instead... it works pretty well!

Part of the addition- all finished up.

Thus has our lives been the last week- out to one job at the crack of dawn, then working until sunset at another... unfortunately it's made other activities difficult :)

Today we finished up the gutter job by lunch time, so I was able to run to Atlantic and do some shopping, which was nice...

Tomorrow is church: a fellowship meal, activities at the nursing home in Griswold, then a birthday celebration for Caleb in the evening. It'll be a nice full day!

God bless you all as you go into the Lord's day tomorrow- keep your hearts open to His Spirit, and allow yourself to be changed by Him! Keep nothing back!

-nate

Helping at a wedding...

This last Friday we drove out to Wellman, Iowa for Jonathan Newswanger's wedding. The Smiths and Ryan and Kels were the special singers for the wedding and had asked if I would help. We had practiced several times before the wedding, but it was still kinda nerve-wracking when the moment came to begin. It was extremely enjoyable though! I always enjoy singing with a group that can sing well (mostly because it helps hide my singing deficiencies) and Ry and his in-laws are definitely a group that sing well.

I was also the head sound technician for the wedding, which meant the day before the wedding getting all the mics equalized and set on the mixer, setting up a PA system for the open mic time during the reception and generally helping with the sound stuff. Myron Zook helped during the wedding (since I was singing, I couldn't be in the sound booth :) and did a fantastic job. Everything went smoothly and the wedding was a blessing. We all came away from it feeling refreshed.

The reception hall as it was when we arrived on Thursday morning.

We were not allowed to take pictures during the actual wedding, so I have none for that :(

However, we could after the service!!

Everyone sitting down to eat.

The open mic time;

I was off to the side operating the sound system.

Here's the little creature we used for the open mic time: a Fender PD-150

Great little system, very impressive range and dynamics!

And here is a quick shot of the main sound system at the church there.

Last few years at the Bible Conference in Wellman we've used this system and it's fairly complicated...

But- it's really fun to get it all working rightly and making it sound good.

On the way home Friday night...

There was a car accident on the interstate in Des Moines.

We got home in good time and got back to work on Saturday...

Well, it's late, so I'd better get to bed before much more writing :)

Often I feel like I don't say enough here on my blog, but then again, one can only put so many hours in during a day :) Tomorrow we leave early so we can get some work done before the ground thaws; the job we're at has an IMMENSE amount of mud, so it's almost impossible to work once it gets sticky :)

God bless you all. Keep Him first and only in your life!

-nate

Installing windows!

On Tuesday Ryan and I harkened back to our earlier days of working together and took on a window install together. We had 8 windows to install before 4 o'clock. We got there around 9 in the morning and got to work... Would we get done in time? Had our "team work" become rusty from me living in Haiti for a year? I was a bit nervous about being out of practice since I hadn't installed windows for so long...

Since a few people have voiced doubt in my abilities in actual, physical work (yes, I'm talking to those of you who met me in Haiti who have thought I was just a computer geek, working at a desk all the time) I was inspired to the other day (after a conversation with one of those individuals) to demonstrate how window installation works- thus, hopefully giving you a glimpse at a side of my life which you really haven't seen yet.

First we start off the morning looking at a beautiful Iowa sunrise...

I know, no mountains, no forests, etc., etc., but it is pretty nonetheless.

I loaded the windows into the trailer while I waited for Ryan to arrive.

One essential thing for working well and efficiently is water.

However, there are times when an extra amount of flavor is... nice... ;)

So, here we begin with a window situated in the right wing of a bay window.

This is called a rope-and-weight double hung, named after the old fashioned weight and pulley system which assists the operator when opening the sashes. These are some of the most common windows you'll find out there. They are usually caulked or painted shut.

Step one is removing the inside "stops"

These retain the first sash in its track.

Use a molding bar to carefully pry the inside stop away from the window jamb.

Be careful not to damage the veneer and finish as you do this.

Once the stop is free from the jamb, place it in a safe place- it will be used later.

Now tilt the sash inside and pull up- like I said before, it may be painted or caulked in.

Use a molding bar to break it away if it is- be careful to pry on the outside edges of the sash, where the frame is; if you pry in the middle of the sash you might break the glass.

Place all the sashes you remove in a central location to be removed later.

Next, remove the "middle stop".

This retains the outside sash.

Use a hammer and molding bar to remove it.

Begin at the top.

Work your way down to the center of the window, 

where the upper sash's angled bottom will stop your progress.

BREAK the middle stop against the lower part of the sash.

Then start at the bottom of the middle stop and work upwards.

Once you reach the broken part, you should be able to just yank it free, 

pulling it out from the sash.

There is also a top stop- this usually comes out in one piece.

Take this off after the middle stops.

Beware of hidden surprises- sometimes (if the ropes of the pulley system are cut) 

the owner will have nailed the bottom of the sash- keeping it from falling down. 

This will hinder your progress severely :)

Remove any nails/screws/blocks and proceed.

Just be careful the sash doesn't come slamming down onto you after you remove these.

It is painful.

:)

In this case, the window was painted shut- even after all the stops were removed, 

it still wouldn't come loose as it should have.

If this happens, use your molding bar to pry against the outside stops 

(on the OUTSIDE of the window... makes sense, right?)

and lever against the sash- it should break free.

Do this on each side.

It should then be free to be pulled inside-

however, there are some pulleys on the top that might keep you from completely removing it;

also, there might be some more paint or caulk on the top of the sash that might retain it.

If that's the case, go to the top of the sash and pry down-

do this on each side of the sash.

If it still does not come down, you might have to go outside and cut it loose.

Once it's free, pull it down; this will expose the rope and pulley system.

Cut the ropes if they are not already.

The pulleys will present a problem when installing the new pocket replacement unit.

Use a hammer.

Flatten them like this. You have to do this on either side.

Some variants are extremely hard and have screws holding them in. 

These must be removed completely and the holes filled with expanding foam.

At this time (if you didn't already) check the opening for rogue nails that didn't come out with the stops.

Remove them with your hammer or molding bar.

Lift the pocket replacement unit into the opening.

Slide the upper sash open.

Ensure the unit is pressed up against the outside stops.

Check the spacing on either side of the unit. It should be equal. 

If necessary, lift the unit up until the space on the top is the same as the sides, 

and screw it in place on the top. The screw should be tightened until it just touches the vinyl.

However, before you screw it into place, lift the top sash up until it's barely open-

At a glance, you can see if the window is square or not.

If the space between the sash and the frame is equal, your window is square- it one side of the gap is larger than the other, adjust the window up or down on either side to make it equal.

It is imperative the window be perfectly square. The old window opening may not be, so you may need to install the new unit "crooked" in the opening- that's ok, so long as it's square.

This is possibly the most important step; if it's not square, it will make the window leaky and can even cause damage to the locks and keepers.

Once it's square, screw the bottom in place on either side.

Be careful not to over, or under tighten the screws.

Now, lift the top sash all the way to the top, into position. 

Next, lift the bottom sash up about 2" and tilt it inward.

You'll be putting a screw inside the jamb, in the place indicated in the picture above.

As the screw goes through the vinyl, make sure the drill bit doesn't skip out and damage the veneer.

As the screw bites into the wood, it will bend the replacement unit's jamb towards the center of the opening; you want this to happen. Look at the weather stripping between the sash and frame and make sure there's no gap- it can even be a bit squished, but not too much. 

The sash should still be able to operate smoothly and not be stiff. 

Again, your screw head should just touch the vinyl- not too tight, not too loose.

If there is still a gap in the weather stopping, 

it may be necessary to pull the jamb yourself as the screw goes in.

Once you have done that on either side, snap the sash back into place and operate both sashes.

They should slide smoothly, all the way, up and down. If one is sticky, you may need to tighten your side screws. Ensure the locks work correctly. Check square again. I usually have about a 1/8" tolerance for being out of square- depending on the model of window and the size. On one like this, I aim for 1/16" tolerances. 

So there you have it! The new unit is now installed and all you have to do is foam around the perimeter and replace the inside stops. The outside can either be caulked or have aluminum cladding installed. On this job, we cladded the outside trim and also stained and installed some new trim on the inside.

So, did we make our deadline for that day? 

I'm thankful to say that the Lord blessed our labors and we were out of there by about 4:15!

So hopefully that gives you a bit of insight into what I do for a living here in the States... Besides drywall finishing, I think installing windows is my favorite job to do :)

Next blog post I'll have some on a wedding we went to...

God bless,

-nate