The Pastor’s Piece – Pastor Kevin Cernek, FCFI Chaplain

Village

November 1, 2026

Sometimes I go back into the archives to see what I’ve written about in the past. I’ve been writing a newspaper column since 1994 so a lot has passed over these fingertips over the years. What I have found in my archive review, is that this column is a lot like a personal diary. The events that happened in my life are basically what I’ve written about here.  

So, here’s what’s been happening. In the past I’ve written about how we moved a barn down the road from one of the neighbor’s farms. Its measurements are 33 x 70. It has a round roof. We moved it mostly because the owner said if someone didn’t take it, he was going to tear it down. I hated to see a perfectly good barn torn down so I asked my wife if she wanted a barn. She wanted to know why anyone would want to move a barn? My response was: “Who wouldn’t? How many people do you know who have ever moved a barn?” She had to admit she knew no one who could stake such a claim. So I said, “If nothing else, we will go down in history as the people who moved a barn.”

And thus came about the barn moving adventure. One cold January day we jacked it up and towed it down the road in one piece and set it on a new foundation. (I say we, but all I did was watch – the movers did all the work). Finally, last spring I told my wife I wanted a project for the summer and I was ready to fix up the barn. So we began making it usable. We did a lot of cleaning, wiring, and plumbing. I have to admit, I’m loving it. I get a lot of enjoyment out of making something old, new again, yet keeping it old at the same time.

During all this barnwork, we are also building a new church addition. That has involved a lot of excavation work, concrete work, planning, executing, wiring, plumbing, and otherwise. The project is moving right along and we are excited. It will be a while before we can move in, but we are making progress every week and it’s hard to contain the enthusiasm.

At the same, we’ve been doing work on our house. With my approval and anticipation, my wife ordered a Murphy Bed on Amazon. A Murphy Bed is one of those beds that folds up vertically against the wall when not in use. They are handy in a room like a den or a smaller bedroom that is not used on a regular basis. The bed came in three boxes weighing over 200 pounds total with some assembly required.  My enthusiasm quickly turned to dismay when I discovered the instructions were 17 pages long and it had over 500 parts including little nuts and bolts. I told her it was a bigger project than what I was willing to undertake right now and we needed to send it back and go to the store and buy one already assembled. Unfortunately, we’ve run into a few roadblocks on the return route. Apparently, the company isn’t really keen on taking it back. In our defense, it is made of very cheap material. I guess, if we can’t return it, I will clear out a space on the garage floor and tackle the project.

Finally, we’ve been harvesting crops on our family home farm. We’re using older equipment that my dad had and used in his farming days with a couple of additions. One tractor is 61 years old, another 48, and another 43. The combine is about 50 years old and had been mothballed in the shed for over 10 years. A couple of new batteries and it started right up. We engaged the separator and no vermin jumped out. We considered that success. We attached the bean head and everything worked. We did have a little trouble with minor things. A bearing went out on the clean grain auger shaft that had to be replaced. When we attempted to start it up after we fixed it, first it broke the chain, then it broke the auger shaft. It took a little work to fix that, but it wasn’t bad. Then on the last day, a hydraulic hose broke and we lost all our fluid, but that was a fairly easy repair. Working mostly after hours for a couple of weeks, we got all the corn and beans in the bins, so we are sitting pretty for now.

I even managed to help a friend become gainfully employed with a truck driving  job last week. He needed part-time work – like one or two days a week. Another guy I knew was driving seven days a week and he needed one or two days off. Waa-la, now the first guy has his part-time work and the second guy can be home for two days. I love it when a plan comes together.

Life is an adventure. We don’t always know where the journey will lead, but what matters is how we approach each adventure and how God uses it to help us grow, serve, and bring Him glory. Colossians 3:23 reminds us: “Whatever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord, and not unto men.”

(Kevin Cernek is Pastor of Martintown Community Church, Martintown, Wisconsin)