For many years this website has been focused on my woodworking and fine furniture business. Although I am now retired and no longer accepting commissions for furniture from clients, I have preserved some frequently visited posts about my workshop, workbench, and furniture design which are available through “Woodworking and Design” on the above menu.
Woodworking was normally a part-time venture for me and took place along with several decades of work supervising the agricultural testing lab at the University of New Hampshire, and later on, nearly a decade of assisting with property assessments for one New Hampshire town.
As we live and work, each of us chooses to live within a certain context – a certain story – that shapes our lives. Our stories help us address some important questions like
“Where are we?
“Who are we?”
“What’s gone wrong?
“What’s the solution?”
All these questions are important. The third one is perhaps especially important because we all intuitively recognize that not everything in the world (or even our own lives) is as it should be. The third question begs an answer to the fourth question “What is the solution?”
A long time ago I found the Christian story to be the most compelling story within which to live, and so I chose to become a Christian. A follower – a disciple – of Jesus Christ.
Following Christ as his disciple has been a “Long Journey in the Same Direction.”* Like most journeys, this one has had its high (and low) points, but always traveling in the same direction. Under the menu item of “Christian Discipleship” above you will find an ongoing blog about my journey as a disciple of Jesus Christ. This is now the focal point of my website, and it is my hope this focal point might help you find a place in the same story, and perhaps encourage you in your own journey.
The additional menu item above on “Virtual Pipe Organs” is about my interest in pipe organs (and their virtual counterparts) and is strongly related to my woodworking interests. Even a very small organ, real or virtual, can involve a lot of woodworking!
You may notice that I have intentionally not made any provision for comments on the pages of this website. In these days of open-ended social media I have found that comments (and responses to those comments!) on so many websites (including woodworking sites) often quickly move in inappropriate or irrelevant directions. If you wish to share comments or ask questions, please direct them to me personally through the “Contact Me” menu choice above.
* This phrase (which is also the header for this website) is intentionally a close analog to “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction” – the title of a book by Eugene Peterson which I first read nearly 40 years ago and has been an often read companion on my own journey through life.
Stuart C. Blanchard 