It was well into the morning, by the time I climbed off my lime green Honda Navi. It seemed like it would be just another typical day at the shop. I was preparing myself to scrape paint or clean glass, willing to do whatever was asked of me. As I walked in and bid good morning to my coworkers, I was shocked when my boss, Michael, asked if I could help build storm windows.

‘You mean like woodworking?’ I remember thinking to myself, as he pulled out the chisels and gestured towards the table closest to his office.

Until this point it had been established that this table was off limits, it was Michael’s table. Where he would carefully labor over wood for hours to create a window that could last a hundred years. He began to walk me through the art of squaring the corners. He gave me a pencil and taught me how to draw guiding lines. Then showed me how the chisel would rest on the line and cut through the cherry oak as you tapped it with a hammer. He showed me to slow down, and check the wood so it could break off with ease. It was like watching the Carpenter craft the canyons. As he handed me the chisel, I felt the weight of the tool and the destruction it could bring. Hesitantly, I placed the blade against the oak and gave it a soft tap. The wood dented as I tested how much pressure to use, but eventually I got it.

That was a year ago, and when Michael asked me last week to teach Zach the same thing I was ready. With my chest a little bigger than before, I marked out the first corner with the pencil and swung the hammer.

‘Not perfect, but pretty good.’ I thought to myself.

As I finished my corner, I passed it to Zach after explaining the process and walked away filled with pride at my work and the role that had just been given to me. I left Zach to finish, after marking the remaining corners, and got back to cutting glass. Which Javi had taught me to do the week prior, and now I was doing on my own. My head had never been greater. Michael left his office an hour later and I prepared my heart to receive his gratitude and appreciation for my leadership. Michael calmly walked over, and showed Zach how the chisel would rest on the line and cut through the cherry oak as you tapped it with a hammer. He taught Zach to slow down, and showed him how to check the wood so it could break off with ease. It was like watching the Carpenter craft the canyons all over again.

‘The wood checks!’ I exclaimed, only in my head this time.

It seems that in my pride and excitement, I forgot the most important part of the process. I was so excited to teach that I had completely forgotten what I had been taught. In this moment the Lord taught me much about leadership. I learned that the best leaders remember how they were led, and reproduce this. I humbled myself and admitted to Michael I had failed to show Zach so the sloppy corner was my fault. He responded with grace, and I was once again met with the face of the Carpenter from a window restorer in Western, North Carolina.