Barn (Shed) Raising Continued

I want to be that guy. Measure (forget about it), eyeball it and hope for the best.  Now, back in my Youth Ministry days, I decided to redo the Youth Room. I recruited a carpenter and an electrical engineer to organize the project. The room was full of teens and adults reshaping the Annex basement. 

I noticed that a wire was hanging from the ceiling, and knowing that it was not going to lead to a fixture I decided that it need to be cut short. “POP”, sparks  and I was this to the ground, and the subsequent darkness all pointed to a bad idea. Cutting a live wire could have killed me. My electrical engineer friend helped me up and pointed me toward the carpenter.

I was tasked with building a false beam, about eight feet long. The carpenter explained what needed to be done and left me to my safe assignment. Thirty minutes later he came by to see how I was doing, and I proudly stepped back and displayed my handiwork. He was kind and showed me why measuring and cutting were important. What he really did was take the whole thing apart and in five minutes had built a completely different looking false beam. He then asked if I would sort through the nails.

I want to be that guy. The walls to my shed are up, and a sample rafter was left for me to copy. No cutting necessary, I just had to nail them together. My friend also set up a jig to make it idiot-proof, and it didn’t take me long to finish 10 rafters. Now to put them up. Surely I could do this. I figured out a process and in no time they were all up. I stepped back and looked at my handiwork and thought it didn’t look that bad. Until my two friends showed. One of my rafters was completely wonky, and several others had to be moved in order to fit the sheets of plywood. Out of kindness one of my friends told me that it wasn’t unusual to adjust rafters. It’s good to have friends.

I want to be that guy, but my patience is too short, my concentration on the little things is overlooked, and my experience is not enough to know if the job is down well or not. What I’ve learned, is that takes a community. Nehemiah wrote, “(ESV) 6 So we built the wall (shed). And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people (my friends) had a mind to work.” 

The reality is that I am not that guy when it comes to construction. I’m a great gofer, and I can sort through nails, and I can nail things if it is made idiot proof. I am so blessed to have friends willing to take the time to help me with my shed. They do it because they are that kind of guys, servants and selfless. I’m just saying…