Lessons from my fire place

One of my biggest dreams prior to having my renovations done was that I always wanted a fire place.  Hence when the decision was made to renovate, that was non-negotiable.  Oh boy what a joy it has been to be able to use it for this, its first winter season. 

Well, I have been super surprised regarding the life lessons this little fire place is teaching me.  For starters, the day I first tried to crank it up I hit a major snag.  I had all my fuel bits in place and I got it started up, but within minutes, if not seconds of closing the door, I had smoke billowing out of it and my fire was instantly snuffed out.  Perplexed and frustrated I kneeled down and looked inside, something was missing.....I could not see the exhaust hole anywhere....Mmm, where had it gone? 

I poked my hands round the inside and figured out that there was a metal plate covering the hole right at the top.  Had it been placed there on manufacture, or some other time, I was not sure, but this plate was the cause of all the commotion and it had to go! 

Some more prodding round turned up the solutions, the side and back fire tiles were relatively easy to remove, which made room then for me to access the top plate.  After MUCH wiggling, jolting, prodding and pushing, the plate dropped out.  Right, now I was ready for round two, or actually three or four, but who's counting right... Lol!  Another go of it, with some swooshing of the news paper and my fire was on the go. 

In life we are often excited about a plan...this is going to be the big break, the big chance, the big opportunity I've been waiting for my entire life and we look again, and there is an obstacle in way.  The question is, are you going to let that obstacle stand in the way of your dream or are you going to push and prod and find a solution?  I believe God wants us to push hard and work for our dreams to come true.  Wasn't that the point of the departure from Eden, that man must toil and work.  I know there are many other ways to look at the story of Eden and many perspectives but I believe that God has declared in His word that when we put our hands to a job and we work with integrity and courage, that he will reward our efforts in every way. 

Well surprisingly there are many more lessons from my fire place to come, but for now, its nearly time to snuggle into bed.