Firewood Warms Twice
It seemed to even out. For every chunk of dead wood I tossed on the trailer I had an equal thought of “is this really worth it?”. I had a lot of chunks and consequently a lot of mental gymnastics of trying to discern whether or not all my work was going to result in a worthy reward.
Creating firewood is no easy task. But, in an odd way of being a Beck, firewood comes looking for me. I often find myself stomping through the woods at my in-laws woods, finding dead or fallen trees that would serve well as warmth producer. These potentially prized pieces of the forest are there but they sure aren’t easy to extract. I’ve bounced my truck and trailer around all kinds of stumps, brush, and a myriad of wasteland in order to get the “good” dead wood.
And that’s the just the beginning. Then there’s the cutting up. The loading. The unloading. The splitting. The stacking. And then the waiting for it to be suitable to burn for, you know, warmth. Toss in the inevitable mechanical mishap, the power-washing of mud off my truck, and the buffing of trail pinstripes and it really makes you reevaluate the whole ordeal.
My father in-law always chuckles and says, “Well Josh, you know what they say; firewood warms you twice!”. He always has a good laugh at this because I’ll have a ring of sweat on my t-shirt while it’s 20 some degrees outside. He’s not wrong.
Is it worth it? Maybe not, especially since we don’t even burn wood to heat our house any longer. I have all of this sweat equity into producing firewood but I don’t use it to heat our house. It sounds like I’m getting the raw deal of firewood warming me twice! All of the work without any of the reward!
But through a series of events I’ve found myself getting warm a second time by the same firewood. And I have found a fellow that very much understands the question, “Is it worth it?”.
In the year 2022 I might be laboring over my time and energy about firewood but back in the late 1960’s my friend had bigger issues. His time and energy would be spent on the battlefield where everyone was questioning tactics, purpose, and lives lost. He served two tours in Vietnam, received two purple heart medals from the government for his sacrifice, and came home with more questions than answers.
I’ve delivered firewood a few times to my friend and it’s absolutely true that firewood warms you twice. Maybe even three times! But as we dropped the firewood off the side of the trailer, sweating yet again, I heard the story of him dropping his medals into a river. I listened and gathered that when you are looking for reasons of worth and value, for purpose, and to answer “is it worth it”, a shiny medal from the US government isn’t going to quench that thirst. Not when you saw others sacrifice their lives doing the same thing.
My firewood friend cannot understand why God saved him and allowed others to perish on the same battlefield. But you can certainly sense the gratitude that he is still here. I’m glad he’s here as well; and can use some firewood and is willing to chat. But I do know that we all aren’t that much different than firewood. We required work and sacrifice to be plucked from an otherwise worldly-wasteland. And once we had that Savior do His saving we have an opportunity to warm twice! Once, out of gratitude towards Jesus, who died on the cross for our sins and enabled us to have a life here on earth and a future beyond it. And secondly, warmth towards our fellow man, who needs to see the love of Jesus reflected in everyday life. That’s chucking wood off a trailer and enjoying the company of a fellow friend that needs to hear “you were worth it” just like you and I.
It’s worth it. Material gains, medals, and anything else will pale in comparison to the feeling of having purpose and the ability to express gratitude and serve others. Warming twice. It’s what firewood does when it’s pulled from the woods, and it’s who we are called to be too.
