My Inspiration

by F. D. Adkins

Night after night, week after week, he stares at the screen thinking, drawing, and calculating the elevation of the land, the foundation, the cost of building materials, and a floor plan without wasted space. In his mind, every board, every nail, and every brick are carefully placed.

After mapping the path to save the most, he gazes up at the first to go. He analyzes the natural lean and asks himself, “Which way should it fall?” He yanks the starter cord, and the roar of the saw fills the woods. A careful notch and then a cut sends the tree whistling through the air to collide with the earth. One down, but he does not count how many more. He just moves to the next and then the next. He makes a seven-hundred-fifty-foot driveway and a seat for our home falling one tree at a time. If only it were as simple as cutting trees. Now tree stumps dot the path. With a little backhoe attachment on his tractor, he tackles the dotted path stump by stump.

Now, he is ready to start bringing those plans to life. Tiny scoop by tiny scoop, he uses that same tractor with that same little backhoe attachment to dig a full basement and footers. Foundation walls go up, and then he sets the floor trusses. A one-man show, he climbs the ladder and lays one end of the floor truss on the wall. Moving to the other side, he climbs the ladder and lifts the other side of the truss. One down, he moves to the next. Flooring, walls, more trusses, more walls, and a roof, he builds board by board, nail by nail. What is usually done with multiple crews of men, he does all by himself.

***

Maybe this sounds a little far-fetched. Maybe this even sounds impossible. But I have witnessed this one-man show, and I have pictures to prove it.

I share this story because this man is my inspiration. He has taught me that if a person wants something, it is not just going to happen. A person has to work for it, and anything worth having requires hard work. I have been married to him for twenty-three years, and this is the third house he has built. His hard work has saved the money that allowed me to quit work and stay home to raise our children. Most people would probably view one person building a whole house as impossible, but the Bible tells us that nothing is impossible with God.

Projects used to overwhelm me because I would look at the entire feat and get discouraged. As I have watched my husband over the years, I have learned to climb a mountain one step at a time. It takes more than one step to get to the top of Mount Everest. My husband did not focus on plumbing and electrical before he built the walls. He did not worry about brick before he dug a basement. He took it one phase at a time.

God even gives us this example to follow. God is all-powerful and could easily have created everything in the blink of an eye. But instead, He took creation day by day.

When I become overwhelmed, I look at what my husband has been able to accomplish, and I remind myself that “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13 KJV).

My Inspiration in Action: Construction Progress Slideshow