I got a call last night from my mom.  She told me that they were close to selling their lake cabin.  This would make number three.  That’s right…three lake cabins built and three lake cabins sold.  Most people have normal hobbies like collecting stamps, coins or, in the case of my wife, Precious Moments.  But my dad’s hobby is building things, in particular, lake cabins.  I am not sure why I am even thinking about this and allowing you to peer into my thoughts.  I only spent a few hours at this last cabin.  A couple of those hours were spent helping my dad put up siding.  The other time was spent showing my wife the un-completed cabin.  I never saw it completed.   But it is not this cabin I am missing; it is the first one my dad built.  That was a fun one.

My dad’s first cabin was built while I was in high school.  It was a nice looking A-frame style cabin on a beautiful part of Big Stone Lake along the Minnesota/South Dakota border.  We had lots of neighbors and there was plenty of activity, yet it was a quiet get-a-way.  But what I remember most was the number of other family members and friends that came to spend time at the lake.  Grandpa and grandma came every summer with their motor home and spent at least a week there.  Aunts and uncles and cousins came to visit and spent time at the lake.  We had "mammoth" fires (got to love the word "mammoth" — see my sunflower post from yesterday).  We explored the lake in canoes and paddleboats.  We water skied and fished.  I loved that lake cabin.  We had lots of fun and created a lot of memories.

But wait, it is not the cabin itself I loved, but the time spent with people.  A lake cabin is made with wood and nails and will eventually pass away, but time with people is built with love.  And love will not pass away.  Our society places so much emphasis on buildings and structures; so much so that if a building is lost, so are the people.  It is sad that we connect emotions and memories to materials that will not last.  Just talk to a community that has been destroyed by a tornado.  The people are devastated at first, but they vow to rebuild.  The community is not defined by the buildings it has, but is defined by the people living there.  People make a community; people make a family.  Sure, buildings and structures trigger memories and fond times with friends and family, but those memories should not be connected to those structures.  Those memories will not disappear with the buildings.  Those memories only disappear if you do not share them with one another.

Let’s move away from worshipping buildings to a point where they are set as gods in our life that cannot be touched.  Lets move to loving people and focusing on people.  I loved those cabins that my dad built but only in what they represented.  I will never forget those times at Big Stone Lake and I am sure other memories will be made in the future.  A building is a building that lasts only for a moment, but people last forever.  That’s right; we will last forever, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.