Legacy
Though my DMP contained elements of Legacy, I hadn’t named it as a PPN. It may be time. A couple days ago, with the revelation via Grace of God, I wrote a short story. Elements are based on real facts and also a combination of other peoples realities. This I hope gives something for everyone to read and enjoy!
Legacy Leads the way!
“The Carpenter’s Son” short story is about a mans desire to leave a legacy for many generations to come. I’ve included an audio version below.
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The Carpenter’s Son
Once upon a time there was a carpenter who had a son. This father was very skilled at building and of course desired that his son learn the trade and enjoy the prosperity and satisfaction that his life gave to others.
Lets go back to the beginning.
In order to see what this man desired for his son, we must understand how he felt about what he did.
The Carpenter’s Day
A carpenter’s day began with his morning ritual. Of course, he had written down what he needed to do that day, some time before. Why is this important? Because these would be among the skills that he’d teach his son! And the results would be evident!
Each day the carpenter would kiss his wife goodbye, gather his tools and his plan and either go to his carpenters shop or to the place he’d present his work to his customers. His plan included a deadline for completion and gathering the materials to complete his work. It was so easy for the carpenter because he had learned very early this skill. His dad was a tradesman too!
Wood fascinated this carpenter. Wood of all kinds; hard wood, soft wood, grained, rough, smooth, dark and light. The cross grains of how God made the trees he’d use and the tools he’d gathered from his dad, granddad and stores, flee markets and even antique dealers, all became part of this mans purpose to build what suited his customer.
The customer became his focus for he had learned from his own dad that service to others was most important. His skill meant very little unless he understood what his customer wanted. It took a great deal of time for the carpenter to truly understand his customer but he didn’t skimp on this. Everyone has a purpose for what they required the carpenter to build and he knew that meeting that need was what satisfied him most!
The Carpenters Weekend
Each Saturday, the carpenter would sleep in more than on weekdays. His children knew dad needed rest and time to spend in quiet. His children learned to eat and go outside to play or spend time in quiet like dad catching up on sleep and relaxation from a busy week. The afternoon was dedicated to his home, repairs, and spending time with his children.
He took his wife’s love for granted which he felt was ok to do. He loved playing ball in the big side yard, catching whatever his son would toss. He got a lot of exercise running after wild throws and loved encouraging his sons ability to focus, persist, and have faith and be grateful for these times.
Dad and son grew to be very close and there was nothing his son didn’t trust to his dad. At different ages, there were different conversations but dad had been a kid once too and understood that love for the experience of being a dad was most important. After all , he learned this from the experiences he wished he had with his dad. The carpenters desire was to please his dad and be like him!
The Carpenter’s Childhood
When the carpenter was a very young child he knew his dad loved him. As he got older, he became a bit insecure of why his dad pushed him so much. The carpenter felt he’d be easier on his children when he’d be a dad himself! The carpenter’s dad grew up in a time where great sorry and loss of jobs left many hungry and without places to live.
He worked very hard at jobs for harsh employers knowing that it would only be for a short time and then he could start his own business. This business would be passed on to the carpenter. And as his father got older, the carpenter did continue to manage his father’s business!
But the carpenter also wanted to pursue new adventures and do new things a little different.
The Carpenter’s Work Life
This Carpenter would rather work with his hands than sit at a desk , read a book or type on a keyboard. In school, he got in trouble for pulling on a girls hair, looking out the window imagining great adventures like hitting the home run, riding his bike, climbing a tree or tossing stones in the lake! He fidgeted at the table after gobbling up his food so he could go out to play.
In church, he’d ask to light candles to keep from boredom! He may not pay attention to the message but somehow magically knew what the reverend meant. His amazing skills were developed at an early age and he saw visions of creations he’d one day make for himself. His unique way of seeing the world and enjoying life was demonstration of his faith and gratitude.
He didn’t know how much faith he had and to him, they were petty details. He just lived and had fun! His dad taught him to work hard and earn the living he created by giving others what they wanted the best way he knew to create the life he wanted.
The Carpenter’s Wife
Any woman who would live with the carpenter had to be confident. The carpenter had a dream of the perfect woman. He knew she’d find him if he worked hard. She was very special and understood the carpenter’s nature.
She knew that her home would be perfect and anything broken, he’d fix. She knew that she’d be loved because the carpenter took such care in anything he worked at. She understood boys, having brothers of her own. In fact, her dad was a carpenter as well. It was easy for her to talk to him about his work and he was very excited to share all he was doing.
She enjoyed listening, sometimes wishing she could be there with him in the shop or on the job! She was very creative herself and always had projects to keep herself occupied with.
The Carpenter’s Children
Being a father to his son, the carpenter’s vision had always been to pass the family business on. Of course, second to that was his desire to pass on his work ethic , being faithful and having fun. The carpenter was blessed with one son and one daughter. His first born son was his pride and joy. He adored his beautiful daughter but his son’s future was in his hands if he would continue the legacy his father wished.
When his son was old enough to walk, he took him into the woods and showed him the wonders of nature and the animals he’d respect. Others, he’d one day hunt for. The carpenter taught him the names of trees and the kinds of bark to identify them. When his son was old enough, the carpenter let him watch as he felled a tree he’d use to build furniture.
His son became aware of how to use nature’s resources to increase his income. He’d learn to get paid for what others were unskilled or unwilling to do. This gave his son an edge that would make him very wealthy.
The Carpenter’s Legacy
The carpenter wanted his son to be an even better carpenter and man that he was. He leaned on his trusted skills learned from his father to carry him through his own lifetime. Knowing that new tools and techniques would replace some of his, he hoped his son would use them and desire his grandsons to be even better carpenters than both of them.
However, work was not the only thing that mattered to the carpenter. He also wanted his son and grandsons to come to be men of faith. He wanted them to carry on the family traditions of Christmas and Thanksgiving he passed down from his family heritage. His faith compelled him to push his son to stick with school, to work on studies and read to learn all he could. He wanted his son to love his own wife as he’d seen him love his mother.
Through good times and bad, he desired his son to understand the need to forgive as God forgave him when he sought his own way. The carpenter was not perfect. He’d failed in life on many occasions by overworking and misusing his affections on others. This carpenter desired his son to learn from his hard lessons, not to repeat them.
Knowing that a son is liken to be like the father, he felt it better to focus on work and if busy enough, he’d have no time to do wrong. Sometimes it worked! He didn’t want to pass those things on but realized that the man his son would become would have to take responsibility for his own faith and happiness.
The Carpenter’s Death
The carpenter’s life was too short for his son. Not knowing when it would be his time to go, he kept working and enjoying every bit of life he could. It was a wake up call to the son and a time of testing for his faith. Through the toughest part of his life as yet, the carpenter’s son would change forever. Not knowing why God would take his father, he dug further into his work. He would keep busy and try to forget!
In time, through his own temptation, the son came to the knowledge that he had responsibility for his own faith. He found pleasure in the laughter of a good sermon joke. He found favor with a woman of great faith who he came to love and respect after the end of his first marriage. He recovered from the difficult turns in his life. He discovered that true unconditional love is always near. He learned to love himself as if a new carpentry technique he’d implement into his work life.
He discovered that part of life his father tried to teach him about caring for what lasts; The legacy that is greater than a perfect piece of furniture. Rather the legacy of becoming perfectly loving and accepting of the imperfections in oneself. With the latest techniques, our legacy becomes the culmination of skills, talents, strengths and weaknesses. And it’s all okay!
God’s a Carpenter Too
Every life matters to God. Short or long, what we pass on to our children is what they pass on to their own children. The carpenter did the best he could with all he knew from his own dad. His skill was impeccable. His talents made him a sought after friend. His son loved him dearly and his daughter knew the kind of man she would marry because he showed her daily.
What is not well known about the carpenter is that when he was a child, he struggled to live up to the expectations of his own father. In childlike ignorance, he believed he disappointed him on many occasions and this delayed his confidence in himself. He longed for adventure and love and couldn’t see it in the actions from his parents. He knew he’d do things differently when he was a dad, and this resistance to see his lovableness showed up in his weaknesses and misadventures.
After many years, he did learn to forgive himself for believing a lie. He forgave his parents as he knew one day his children would have to forgive him. And he did make sure his son knew his love the best he could and hoped his son would have faith in himself.
Where do children get the idea that they are not loved? Some take responsibility for their parent’s actions as though it is their fault somehow. The scripture speaks of “the sins of the father being passed to their sons”. Only the grace of God awakens a change in men. This grace awakened a change in the carpenter. Though his life was short, he always longed for his son to know this grace and pass this faith to his own children.
This legacy was the true purpose this carpenter gave his son. A confident man is not born. He is built. The carpenter bore his son from the raw tree in the wood. He felled him, chopped him, honed him and created a beautiful masterpiece he could be proud to serve the world. We are not just creators of things. We are co-creators with God of people! Our children may become our greatest masterpieces!
The carpenter sacrificed his life but before he left, he created a masterpiece. His son would carry on his legacy to make masterpieces of his sons! These sons will serve all humanity and create their own legacy which will continue until the end of time!
