DID JESUS PLAY WITH BUILDING BLOCKS? PART 5

Encourage Design Before Build

In my previous post, I discussed the biblical basis for approaching building projects with a design before build mindset and how to encourage your children to approach it that way. In this post we'll be discussing the importance of perseverance.

So, let’s talk a little bit about perseverance.  

The Ark was so long that, at approximately 510 feet long, it would take nearly one and a half football fields to equal the ark’s length. That’s big enough that NASA could lay three space shuttles—nose to tail—on the ark’s roof!

The Ark was so tall the roof was more than 50 feet from the ground—higher than a modern four-story house. As the Bible describes, that’s plenty of space for three extra-tall inner decks.

The Ark had literal truckloads of cargo space - The ark had the same storage capacity as about 450 standard semi-trailers. A standard livestock trailer holds about 250 sheep; therefore, the Ark could hold at least 120,000 sheep.

So, the amount of raw materials they had to gather by themselves was a significant challenge.  Constructing the scaffolding and other rigging necessary to build the ship was a massive undertaking, yet for 120 years, they persevered to create this amazing thing.

Now, it’s unlikely that you and your children will be making an Ark, but there are things your children can get involved in that require significant perseverance to live out the vision of the design. 

The first thing that comes to mind is landscaping and gardening.  This is a practical way to involve your technical child, first by having them participate in the garden design and then working to build it out. 

Gardening enables children to engage in physical activities like digging, planting, and watering, which benefits their general health and fitness. Children learn the value of responsibility and dedication by tending to their garden regularly. Gardening also promotes a strong connection to nature, allowing youngsters to learn more about their surroundings and the crucial role of plants in the ecosystem.

You might be like me and have a black thumb, so the garden might not be the best place to start with your child. 

So the next thing to consider is remodeling.  This is another key plan/build opportunity that can take a lot of perseverance to get to the end.  Over the past year, I could write a 17-volume series of books called As the Basement Floods.  So, my kids have had a lot of experience with the plan/build of basement remodeling. 

The most recent incident was particularly instructive for the kids because we sat down and planned the general layout and design we wanted for the basement. Then, we gave each child a budget to find things at Hobby Lobby to decorate the finished basement area once the work was done.  It motivated them to work through the complex parts of tearing out wet carpets and mushy drywall. While I appreciate the wisdom I learned from an Amish elder… lots of kids make lots of work and we’ve done a ton of remodeling together, it’s not all work and no play at our house.

We’ve also done projects like “The Wookie Fort,” which took many weeks to construct on evenings and weekends. We all enjoyed the fort once it was done even creating an archery range to shoot at from the fort. However, what I was most proud of was when the time came, my grown-up children could bring it down safely and mostly intact so another family could build their own adventure.

In my next blog post, I’ll discuss ways to start engaging your child’s gifting with examples from God’s word about designing before building.