This is a story I tell my students to show... well let's just save that for the end.
There was a wealthy businessman who owned a big construction company. This owner built lots of big fancy homes for rich people. He had 4 different foreman that each ran the building of a house for him, but Tom was by far the best foreman.
Tom showed up earlier to make sure everything was clean and ready. Tom would order the best materials and handpick the best when he personally bought them at a lumberyard. Tom would only hire subs that did excellent work and were trustworthy and responsible. Tom would sacrifice some of the profits to insure the quality of the work. Tom's houses would take a little longer to build than one of the other foreman's because Tom would have to wait for an excellent sub sometimes. Also Tom did all the finish work himself because he was a master craftsman. At the end of each day, Tom would clean up the site, inspect the work done that day and fix anything that needed fixing or call the sub to come back the next day and fix whatever needed fixing.
Tom took pride in each house. Tom wanted his houses to be the best. Tom's customers were always happy with their homes, although some got frustrated by the delays.
Years passed and Tom kept building awesome homes. Finally, 30 years had passed and Tom was ready to retire. His boss showed up one day as Tom was just finishing his last house. Everything was perfect. Tom made sure that all the work was perfect and only the best building materials had been used. His boss, the owner, walked through the house with Tom. No matter how many times they did this, at the end of a job, the owner was always very impressed with the quality of Tom's houses. Tom's houses were by far the best.
As they came back to the living room, Tom handed the owner the keys to the house and said, "Thank you for being such a wonderful boss. I've really enjoyed working for you all these years. You have treated me well and I am grateful. This is the last home I'm going to build for you. I'm getting old and I need to retire." Tom stuck out his hand to shake his boss's hand, but his boss pleaded, "No... no, Tom I need you to build me one more home. I have a very important client and you are my best foreman. Your houses are always the best. I need you to run this last job for me because this is such an important client. Please!??"
Tom did not want to run one more job. In his mind, he had decided that this was going to be his last job, but his boss kept pleading and even begging, so Tom finally gave in and agreed to run one last job.
Tom's heart was not in this last house. For the first time, Tom's focus was strictly on getting done. Tom didn't show up early to clean up, instead, Tom spent most of his time on the phone scheduling subs. He didn't care how much they cost or how good their work was. All Tom cared about was timing... could they show up right after a sub was done with their job? Tom wanted no down time. Tom wanted the house to be done as fast as possible. All of Tom's energies went into making that happen. Tom used cheaper quality materials and cut corners as often as possible, if it would help the house to get built faster. Tom didn't do the finish work himself because that would have taken too long. So, once again, Tom hired out the work to the sub that could get it done the fastest.
On the last day, the owner just happened to show up to check on the progress. Tom was not expecting him and in fact was embarrassed to see him. Tom had planned on leaving the keys under a rock by the front door and then texting the owner to let him know he was done and where the keys were. Tom was not proud of this house and the last person he wanted to see right now was his boss.
The owner was happy to see Tom, as always, and asked for a quick tour. Tom uncomfortably complied. The owner was very surprised with how much had already been accomplished and was shocked to find out that, in fact, the house had just been completed that day! But as they walked through each room, the owner noticed the low quality of materials and poor craftsmanship of the work. The owner strained to make positive comments as they walked through each room. This was simply awkward for both of them.
Finally, they were back in the living room where they had started. Tom, with his head facing down for the first time ever, handed the owner the keys and turned to leave. But his owner stopped Tom and with a grateful and heavy heart said, "You have been my best foreman all these years. I am so grateful for your integrity, responsibility and your pride in craftsmanship. My important client is YOU. The keys are yours." With this he put the keys back in Tom's hand, turned and walked out the door.
Tom was building his own home and he didn't even know it!
I tell my students that they are building the house that they will live in right now. Their house is made up of their character qualities, choices and decisions, beliefs and relationships. I encourage and challenge them to be thoughtful about the kind of house they are building.
We are not made of cement, steel, wood and glass... but we are each made of flesh and blood and we can change.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Day 28
No comments:
Post a Comment