Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, ” Thus far has the Lord helped us.”   1 Samuel 7:12

Around Good Friday in April 2015, Whetstone Therapeutic School and Ranch experienced an early morning tornado that did some significant damage. They lost several outbuildings and many of the trees surrounding the house. There was some damage to the house as well. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but the School had to close for two months as the clean-up and re-building began.

The staff located a beautiful spot on the property surrounded by walnut and oak trees to build a log cabin from the trees that were knocked down during the tornado. They have named the cabin Ebenezer because “thus far the Lord has helped us.” Out of the ruins of destruction, this cabin has been built.

Basically in just four weeks of work by staff, residents and volunteers, we are at this juncture. This past May 8-10,  we spent our time chinking the spaces between the logs, cutting in and setting the windows and building doors. It rained the first day and by day three it was hot and muggy with plenty of bugs to be shared by all.

My job for the three days was to build two doors from construction lumber and rough cedar. My partners in this endeavor were the executive director Jeremy Thompson and the on-site therapist Matt Foster. Both have significant time in construction but had never made doors, so I had a great time teaching. With the rain on the first day, it took forever for the glue to dry. In fact the door came apart twice. It is amazing how long things take to dry around here compared to life in the high desert of Colorado.

The openings for the doors were different width so of course we had the opportunity to modify the doors. I had brought some handplanes and some other hand tools hoping to be able to use them. Sometimes it truly is faster to use a hand plane to narrow a door than tho try and use a corded tool. Jeremy had never had the opportunity to use a hand plane, so I encouraged him to give it a try.   He said that it was fun to see progress and the finished result as he used the plane. My next goal for him is to get him on a bicycle.

This is the result of our hard work that week.

It was a great three days working with Jeremy. Matt was in and out. sometimes needing to be on the phone and sometimes working on the outdoor toilet. I found it interesting that a therapist was working on the toilet. We checked at the end and everyone still had their fingers and toes.

Thanks for perusing,

Gary