13
Nov
2010
Pay it forward with a barn raising week three
Here on active Rain there is a new group called pay it forward. You know the concept, do something nice for someone else, and they in turn pay it forward by helping someone else. Each week we post about some event or idea that we have to help pay it forward. It can be small or big or somewhere in between. I am on week three of Pay it forward and am having a ball.
This pay it forward week was with the good old barn raising mentality. In the old days when someone needed to build a barn, the whole community came with hammers, helpful attitudes and maybe even sandwiches. I think we have lost something valuable along the way.
As everyone is getting ready for the winter months, I see a whole lot of home owners out building shops, barns, garages and sheds. Last week I was out showing property and was talking to the neighbor of a listing. He mentioned that he was trying to get a barn up all by himself before the winter hits. I have been going through that one myself, so I know what he is going through. So Sunday my son and I arrived at this guys house with our tool belts and the biggest smiles we could muster and asked if he wanted a couple of willing hands. By the end of the day we had managed to get the osb sheathing on and the tar paper tacked down. One more day of putting on the metal and he is shelled in.
As everyone is getting ready for the winter months, I see a whole lot of home owners out building shops, barns, garages and sheds. Last week I was out showing property and was talking to the neighbor of a listing. He mentioned that he was trying to get a barn up all by himself before the winter hits. I have been going through that one myself, so I know what he is going through. So Sunday my son and I arrived at this guys house with our tool belts and the biggest smiles we could muster and asked if he wanted a couple of willing hands. By the end of the day we had managed to get the osb sheathing on and the tar paper tacked down. One more day of putting on the metal and he is shelled in.
Now you might be saying I don’t know how to build a barn. That’s ok an extra hand is always a good thing on a building project. Have you ever seen a USDA self help group full of single moms, grandpas build a neighborhood of beautiful homes. They might not show up to the job site full of skills, but willingness to work and learn will get you through. It may be something as small as holding the end of a board or handing up a tool. Especially with someone trying to do a project all on their own, it just brings joy to someone to have someone care enough to spend a day to further their cause.
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