{"id":130,"date":"2013-06-06T05:17:58","date_gmt":"2013-06-06T05:17:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/robinrysavy.com\/?p=130"},"modified":"2013-06-06T05:17:58","modified_gmt":"2013-06-06T05:17:58","slug":"the-carpenter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robinrysavy.com\/?p=130","title":{"rendered":"The Carpenter"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m not sure where this came from. \u00a0It is something my husband forwarded to me, and I feel it is worth sharing. \u00a0I wish I knew who wrote it. \u00a0I’d love to give them credit.<\/p>\n

The Carpenter: A Message for us All<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Once upon a time, two brothers who lived on adjoining farms fell into conflict. \u00a0It was the first serious rift in 40 years of farming side-by-side, sharing machinery and trading labor and goods as needed without a hitch.<\/div>\n
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Then the long collaboration fell apart. \u00a0It began with a small misunderstanding which grew into a major difference and finally, it exploded into an exchange of bitter words followed by weeks of silence.<\/div>\n
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One morning there was a knock on the older brother’s door. \u00a0He opened it to find a man with a carpenter’s toolbox. \u00a0“I’m looking for a few days’ work,” he said. \u00a0“Perhaps you would have a few small jobs here and there I could help with?”<\/div>\n
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“Yes,” said the older brother. \u00a0“I do have a job for you. \u00a0Look across the creek at that farm. \u00a0That’s my neighbor. \u00a0In fact, it’s my younger brother! \u00a0Last week there was a meadow between us. \u00a0He recently took his bulldozer to the river levee and now there is a creek between us. \u00a0Well, he may have done this to spite me, but I’ll do him one better. \u00a0See that pile of lumber by the barn? \u00a0I want you to build me a fence\u2026an 8-foot fence so I won’t need to see his place or his face anymore.”<\/div>\n
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The carpenter said, “I think I understand the situation. \u00a0Show me the nails and the post-hold digger and I’ll be able to do a job that pleases you.”<\/div>\n
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The older brother had to go to town, so he helped the carpenter get the materials<\/div>\n
ready and then he was off for the day. \u00a0The carpenter worked hard all that day\u2026measuring, sawing and nailing. \u00a0About sunset when the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his job.<\/div>\n
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The farmer’s eyes opened wide, his jaw dropped. \u00a0There was no fence there at all. \u00a0It was a bridge\u2026a bridge that stretched from one side of the creek to the other! \u00a0A fine piece of work, handrails and all!! And the neighbor, his younger brother, was coming toward them, his hands outstretched.<\/div>\n
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“You are quite a fellow to build this bridge after all I’ve said and done.”<\/div>\n
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The two brothers stood at each end of the bridge, and then they met in the middle, taking each other’s hand. \u00a0They turned to see the carpenter hoist his toolbox onto his shoulder.<\/div>\n
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“No, wait!! Stay a few days. \u00a0I’ve a lot of other projects for you,” said the older brother. \u00a0“I’d love to stay on,” the carpenter said, “but I have many more bridges to build.”<\/div>\n
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Remember this: \u00a0God won’t ask what kind of car you drove, but He’ll ask how many people you helped get where they needed to go. \u00a0God won’t ask the square footage of your house, but He’ll ask how many people you welcomed into your home. \u00a0God won’t ask about the clothes you had in your closet, but He’ll ask how many you helped to clothe. \u00a0God won’t ask how many friends you had, but He’ll ask how many people two whom you were a friend. \u00a0God won’t ask in what neighborhood you lived, but He’ll ask how you treated your neighbors. \u00a0God won’t ask about the color of your skin, but He’ll ask about the content of your character. \u00a0God won’t ask why it took you so long to seek Salvation, but He’ll lovingly take you to your mansion in Heaven, and not to the gates of hell.<\/div>\n
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I’m not sure where this came from. \u00a0It is something my husband forwarded to me, and I feel it is worth sharing. \u00a0I wish I knew who wrote it. \u00a0I’d love to give them credit. The Carpenter: A Message for … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robinrysavy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robinrysavy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robinrysavy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robinrysavy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robinrysavy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=130"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/robinrysavy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131,"href":"https:\/\/robinrysavy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130\/revisions\/131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robinrysavy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robinrysavy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robinrysavy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}