Thursday, February 16, 2006

The Carpenter

The Carpenter
An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. 

 He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by.

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could  build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but  in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work


  He resorted  to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate  way to end a dedicated career. 

 When the carpenter finished his work the employer came to inspect the  house.


 He handed the front-door key to the carpenter.  "This is your house," he said, "My gift to you!"  The carpenter was shocked! What a shame! If he had only known he was  building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.


So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then with a shock we realize we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it over, we'd do it much differently.  But we cannot go back.


  You are the carpenter.  Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. "Life is a  do-it-yourself project," someone has said. Your attitudes and the choices  you make today,build the "house" you live in tomorrow.

Build wisely!
 Remember....
 Work like you don't need the money
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like no one is watching

And remember that I will always be there for you. Barbara

And live laugh and love everyday of your life. 

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like this a lot and I agree with this.  

Anonymous said...

Great story.  Great message. ~ Mike

Anonymous said...

Truer words were ne'er spoken.  Somedays I feel like the house I'm building is about to collapse.  :) Thanks for sharin sis.  Love ya.
Barb

Anonymous said...

I think this should be required reading for kids starting when they are about 10 years old these days before they start hammering in the wrong places. great story, Barbara; thanks for sharing it

betty

Anonymous said...

LOVE IT!!!
Hugs, Marina

Anonymous said...

Your favorite clown is very cute . . . hehehe.

Amanda :)
http://journals.aol.com/trickeytricky/CountryMyKindaLivin

Anonymous said...

Excellent Barbara! I'm going to print this to put up at my desk at work. That's the kind of things they should teach in school! Martha :-)

Anonymous said...

Love that photograph! Wonderful! That's the kind of life we all need to lead!

Thanks!
Charley
http://journals.aol.com/CDittric77/Courage

Anonymous said...

What a good and interesting story.     My story is a bit different.     My carpenter is having problems with his life and is drinking thinking things will go his way.    His wife has called from Texas informing him that she may be staying and working there by her family.    She has told her church about her husband's drinking problem and they have prayed for him.   When I hired him I let him take control of the project and tolerated his lack of concern about how the project was going just so it would get built.   I let him do his hurried job and saw mistake after mistake, though along with some good work and his physical strength is an asset as I can not do the heavy lifting without severe consquences.    His mortgage is about $1000 / month and I do not see how he is going to pay it.    I think his wife feels the situation is hopeless even though both her and I wanted him to earn enough that they could save their house.    What does he do?    He goes on "drunks" with his buddies and then gets sober and thinks things will go fine after his drinking stops again.    I am not going to be a part of his plan to continue acting like he knows what he is doing.    I am just letting him go with the money he owes me and can see that if I pay him any cash daily and let him work off the loan a little at a time, he goes on another drunk with the cash.    So now he has to really want to work because he must work off his loan from me.    I do not have his physical strenght and he is 10 years younger than me, but I have upper hand of my wisdom and will no longer allow him to take control and do shoddy work.    I hope I have not bored everyone with this elaborate comment.    mark