Lessons from the Woodburner

This was the week that Autumn fell onto Central Indiana. After summer-like temperatures through the month of September (for which I am thankful, having gotten the garden started rather late in the season), we got a soft frost last night and are looked at temps dipping into the single digits all week (sorry for any confusion, we run in degrees C in the Morrison family). This means it’s time to consider one of the many humble facets of living that help me, a tropical island native, thrive through the Midwestern winter. Yes you, I mean you, wood stove.

It’s likely that we’ll fire off the wood stove soon, using the uber-dry log that’s been sitting in there since April. Which brings me to lesson #1:

It’s the Seasoned Wood that Burns.

Last winter we had to take a load of firewood mid-season. My friendly wood guy, Caleb, insisted that it was seasoned for at least 18 months. Hmmm. While it did okay, I can tell you that the wood was not prime for burning nice and clean and hot like the well-dried graying crackly stuff we found in the yard when we moved in.

Similar to the quality of the log on the fire, the spiritual quality of what we burn off of can vary too. There are seasons when I don’t have the mental energy to dive deep, to ponder, to be studious. It’s those seasons when I need to obey with what I already know and keep the fire going by using smaller pieces and loading up frequently. Turn to a worship song, or meditate on just a word or two. It’s okay if the spiritual wood isn’t seasoned, but the fire either has to already be hot, or smaller chunks of fuel are required.

Even when our energy isn’t the limiting factor, we can also feed our fires with a variety of fuels: high quality seasoned soft wood that burns warm, hardwoods that burn hot, green sticks, paper that produces impressive colored sparks and flames, or root balls that just smolder and smoke. Some authors, podcasters, and preachers want to give you green sticks and little balls of newspaper. These little nuggets feel helpful, they certainly fit in the stove easily, and are oh so accessible! But in many cases, there’s nothing there beyond the smoke and sparks. For me, there’s nothing like a life-seasoned saint combined with the Spirit’s work to goad me into obedience and heart change. Persecution, faithful decades-long service, and full-orbed honesty all season us as believers. Surround yourself and partake of inputs that are well-seasoned.

It’s always easier to keep a stove hot rather than start with a cold stove.

I’m always amazed to come out from my bedroom in the darkness, lightly touch the top of the stove to find it still warm, open the now empty-looking firebox, put another log on, and in moments, shazaam! Bright, hot flames. You can’t always see the hot coals in there, but if things are humming along, they’re in there.

Compare this to what it takes to start up a new fire. Stacking the wood just right, getting kindling material, and hoping it will only take one try. Babysitting it because the stove door must be left open.

It’s so, so much easier to keep a stove hot because the residual heat in the stove itself, combined with a few embers is all it takes to keep the stove burning. And the spiritual implications are obvious, aren’t they? Don’t take a break from Jesus. I know, it’s the holidays. Or maybe it’s summer. You’re going to Florida or to the Lake or to stay with your family for a week or two. Are you going to let your spiritual stove grow cold? What is it going to take to restart the fires of your soul when you decide to start it up again? Will you have misplaced the lighter? Do you even remember how to get a fire going?

Better to keep the stove hot.

A Clean, Hot Burn

Last year the Engineer bought a little magnetic thermometer to stick on the stove, helping us to keep some data about the actual stove temperature. The most efficient burn isn’t the hottest. It’s the temperature at which everything in there burns cleanly (remember that stoichiometric equation you balanced in Chemistry? No? I’m sorry if you don’t. Really, it’s magical.) and at which a minimal amount of heat is lost up the chimney. Fire too cool? Lots of waste, smoke, and potentially dangerous buildup in the chimney. Too hot? Well, who wants a chimney fire?!?

I’ve felt this in my walk with Jesus before. When I get that feeling that God “wastes nothing” (thanks, Pastor Brock) and I’m getting a clean, hot burn, converting the kindling of God’s Word and the heat of his Spirit into real, abundant life.

Pack it in. Then take advantage of Thermal Mass.

I’m always amazed that once the stove is warmed up, you can pack it totally full of wood and it will purr along happily for 8 hours if it’s burning well. And even as it burns down to a little pile of coals, the fire brick in the stove and the hearth itself store heat and dissipate it.

In his novel Safely Home, Randy Alcorn writes about the main character who is imprisoned for his faith, but keeps it burning hot and is able to share out of his memorized storehouse of scripture. Since that reading in 2004, the book inspired me to start to memorize whole chapters, then books of the Bible. Now the children and I memorize together. And I have noticed a few benefits of this:

• I always have something to pray.
• Increasingly, I view the world through the lens of scripture because it is becoming the filter and guard over our minds. I’ve seen this in the children too.
• Ginormous chunks of scripture usually come with some tricky bits and interesting stuff to talk about with kids (predestination, sexual immorality, etc.) so we are always starting tricky topics from God’s perspective. So much better than the alternative sources of introduction.
• Scripture recitation is a great way to redeem insomnia.

So don’t be afraid to pack that fuel of God’s Word into the stove of your heart.

Circulate the heat!

Finally, one of my favorite features of our stove is the built in blower. This fan intake air from below and blows it across the stove top. This transfers the heat from burning wood effectively to the air and moves that heat out away from the stove.

I love how God piques my interest in such mundane things as wood burning, because it points to himself and to our relationship. God designed us to share the heat and light he gives: to encourage and exhort other believers as we approach The Day, but also to warn, admonish, and draw in people who don’t yet know the joy and warmth of a good fire in the soul. I remember what it was like to live in a perpetual winter without the life- giving, sustaining power of God’s Spirit. And I remember what it was like to get lit up! I hope these posts circulate God’s heat in my life — I hope they help you ponder, prepare, and act. I am so grateful for fiery life in Christ and for the humble reminders I’ll receive all winter long.

 

PS: Hopefully this is the first post of many that were inspired during my morning quiet times with Jesus. Sometimes I’ll do little sketches and typography and font experiments which help my mind to slow down and meditate on God’s Word and its meaning. I hope you find ways to slow it down and let your heart beat with His.