I was six or seven at the time. It was an exciting afternoon of watching Dad build a wooden fence in our backyard. To me, it was an unfolding work of art. I wanted to be in the mix, putting the board in place, raising the hammer, and nailing it! I was happy to skip everything and focus on my hammer swing, listening to the sound that followed a perfect hammer-to-nail head contact and how the nail disappeared into the wood. It worked perfectly in my mind! The one minor challenge was that I missed the mark more often than I landed the blow. The resulting marks were anything but pretty.
Dad suggested we take a lemonade break. When he returned with the lemonade, he had a bucket full of nails and several hammers in his other hand.
“Bill, I want you to learn how to nail. So…your task is to nail this bucket into the stump.”
I acknowledged that my reaction was less than favourable. This was not the glorious experience I had formed in my mind. This was any but! Repetitive, boring, and, in my mind, pointless. Despite repeated attempts to protest, my assignment was clear.
Decades later, hindsight has added perspective to the memory. I see my experience as a character in a life play echoing an observation from a different context; “At the time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.” (Hebrews 12.11)Last night, I looked at the finished product. At best, it is an early step in the many that will follow in the shop. I am thankful that I know how to nail. I appreciate Dad’s investment in me and the difference it makes now. With the basics in place across several different areas, opportunities today can be seized. The model can be expanded with the help of the teachers in my life. Divinity and Life never give up on you or me.
