Seeking the Masculine Man

I read a great book a few years ago and am destined to reread it very soon. It started a conversation with the reader about being a strong man and a Christian man: could they exist together and what would that look like?

In short, yes. A look into the bible and one can find many strong men, men with high moral fiber with very...manly, characteristics. Sinners? Heck yes, aren't we all...like even right now. And right now. etc.

My joy found in the book, though, was the discussion about what that man would look like. Here is a premise paraphrased, liberally:

Men need an adventure. This needs to be something necessarily without boundaries; it is risky and there is a dangerous element to it. Swim with sharks while wearing a pork chop bananna hammock? Okay, but risky and dangerous are relative. This can be anything outside of one's 'normal' way of living.

What does this have to do with this blog? My adventure, my risky move is this property. It was falling down. It has some guidelines for what can/can't be done but other than basic structural and historical codes, I could really screw this up and no one would stop me. I am a person who follows best known methods, does things in the manner the 'should be' done, etc. Well, here's something without much of that.

I have been leading up to this project for years. I quit a career years ago with a goal of building a house. I have patiently worked for pennies learning a new trade and been lucky not to have lopped off a few fingers with any number of power tools/saws. And here we are. On the cusp of doing what I set out to do years ago.

It is the culmination of much thought, dreaming, and hard work. It is also hanging it out there. Don't let my trivial, polite answer to "How's the project going?" fool you. This is the real deal for me.