2x4x8 X $2.68 = #@&*#$

It’s a great idea. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for my grandchildren, but math, measuring, cutting might all be beyond my talents. I have spent, literally, hours looking and trying to figure out the best materials to use (light weight enough but sturdy) for their age, and at the most reasonable cost. Do I use 2x4’s, 2x8’s, 1x8’s, 2x8’s, or do I not use wood at all and go with pool noodles? I like the pool noodles because they are light, can be used anywhere in the house, and are great for sword fights (by the way I am making child size Lincoln logs). And since I have told them they will be getting a big surprise I have to come through. Of course they don’t know the surprise, so maybe big refrigerator boxes will do.

Counting the cost. It’s more than just money, it’s skill, time, tools, effort, enjoyment, and even desire. What is my motivation? What will keep me going when I really don’t want to finish? For my grandchildren’s, build yourself playhouse, it will be their smiles, giggles, and hopefully hours of fun.

Jesus said, “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’...So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:27-33.

Jesus is very clear about the cost of being a disciple — Everything! There isn’t any cost comparison; is this way easier than another. There are just two choices, the broad way and the narrow way. “Broad and easy is the way that leads to destruction, and many will find it.” “Narrow and hard is the way that leads to life, and few will find it.” Hard or easy? I would like the easy route. Life or destruction? I would like life. If immediate gratification is what drives you, then the easy way is what you will choose, and your blindness will keep you from seeing the precipice until it’s too late. Yet, if you are one who will take the long view, the hard and difficult road leads to life. But once you start down the narrow path you find that our savior carries the burden, his yoke is light, he is always with us, his love is unending, and his body surrounds us. 

I have counted the cost of building my grandchildren’s playhouse, around $190. Not bad for hours of fun. I have counted the cost of following Jesus, EVERYTHING.  Not bad for an eternity with God. But then again it all belongs to him anyway. Have you counted the cost? I’m just saying.