My RV Building Prayer
Ok, so a couple things... First, I'm a Christian. This isn't something that people usually blurt out, and some people including myself just aren't generally comfortable stating something like that in groups of people. But the more I grow, learn, and contemplate things, I think that if I'm not comfortable stating this, something's wrong....so there it is.
Next, this year I have to say, has been hard on me. My girls (below) are growing up, and I'm just not always happy about that. Sometimes I DEFINITELY am, but there are times that this bothers me deeply. When kids are young you're constantly waiting for them to get to the next stage... Walking, talking, out of diapers, able to have a full conversation, tall enough to ride the 48" tall rides, old enough to stay home alone, and so on. But now that they're 12 and 14, I regret all the times I wanted things to move faster, because now I'm stuck wishing I could slow it down. At times, it feels that the end with them is nearing. This has caused a great deal of stress in my RV14 build. One of the biggest reasons I was building was to enjoy this plane...both building and flying...with them, and give them a 2 seat platform to learn to fly in. I'm finding that my girls are not highly interested in building planes. When they were younger they always seemed eager to help, but now they have their own lives and aluminum isn't their favorite toy to play with. Many times I've contemplated just selling this kit and moving on. If it weren't for this kit, I could make better use of my time remaining with them. But I feel in my heart that when I am done, we ALL will get some real enjoyment out of the kit. So what to do? Well, all I can do is buckle down and re-assume that the majority of the build task is on my shoulders.
Bear with me, I'm almost to my point...
As I build the RV-14, I am AMAZED at how hard it is to find time to build. For God's sake, I built an RV-10...a far bigger project, in 25 MONTHS, actually only having built in 23 of those months, and I found 1000 hours to contribute for the first 1.5 years, but another nearly 1000 hours that I squeezed out of the last 6 months of the project. Time was tight, and money was even tighter. And, the kicker is, I did this when the kids were 3 to 7 years old, all the while doing many nights of taking care of kids until they went to bed...scavenging those 9pm to midnight hours to both build, AND to write an extensive build log! Looking back, I'm not sure why it didn't seem THIS hard, back then!
But there was one significant difference that I've found, and that is where the Prayer kicks in...
When building the RV-10, I had focus on the kit, and I am 100% absolutely NOT a person who has patience when waiting for toys. I am NOT a person who can slowly build a plane, relaxing, and taking my time. But, every night I did take the time to ask God to help me with my personality "issue". You see, I really believe that praying for toys, cash, gifts, and things, would really *not* be what God wants to hear. To me, that is just plain wrong. But, God listens to all of your prayers, and I believe when you are in need, he can answer many of them if you would just be reasonable. So every night I used to take the time to say a few words basically like this:
"God, I need your help. I want to finish this project, and I'm not asking for you to give me this airplane, as I already have been blessed more than I deserve. But please give me the strength to overcome my anxious wants, the perseverance to stick with this project, the energy to complete it, and the health so that I won't be held back. Help me to be a stronger person that I may make it through this project to the end. And especially when I'm done, help me to be a positive influence on those around me, so that others may be inspired as well."
No, the words weren't the same every night, but the general flow was, and I think *that* was the biggest difference between then and now. It may be that my girls will be more excited to assist as the plane becomes more "real"...I know that added a lot of motivation for me. But either way, I think I found where the real flaw was.
There were also some words that I read on the Matronics Forum years ago that I think can drastically help you complete your kit, and that is to work on something....ANYTHING on the kit, every day. Even 5 or 10 minutes spent touching it will keep you in touch and motivated to continue. I know that I am very easily pulled away from building, especially when I have to turn on the heaters to work...but by doing something every day, it just works better. And, lately I've been finding that even though...and this is hard to admit...many times I actually don't like building either....I'm a flyer, not a builder, I find that sometimes when I go out to the shop and turn on the music, I find myself smiling without knowing it.
Remember that the true regrets in life will be the things that you did NOT do, not the things you did. You only live once, and putting your dreams on hold may mean unknowingly cancelling them altogether, due to the many things that happen in life. So dream on, and live on, and ask for God's help in making yourself stronger when you need help.
If you're currently building a kit, or even if you just need some strength in your life, hopefully these words find you and give you one more idea of where you can turn.
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