The ladder

By Jeff Becraft

Recently on New Year’s Day, I got to use the ladder. Now this is the ladder. This is the ladder I got the Friday after Thanksgiving on a big sale, that weighs a ton and almost threw my back out in getting it in and out of my car. This is the ladder I had no place to put it at home and if someone breaks into my backyard to steal it, they deserve to get a hernia trying to carry it away. That’s the ladder we’re talking about. (This is the one I talked about in an email a few weeks ago.)

What I needed to do on New Year’s Day was to affix the roof on the fort in our backyard. The fort has been around for 25 years. It was a big Christmas gift when our kids were younger, that we and my parents went together on to get. And now the grandkids get a big kick out of using it whenever they come. Now, the sliding board… that thing will flat out get it. You almost have to put a parachute on to go down the thing.

Around Thanksgiving, I had just simply tacked the roof onto the fort with some nails through the eyelets. It was just a temporary solution. I didn’t have time to get up there and run the screws and the washers and everything to firmly attach it to the fort. But now, the heavy winds recently took it off, and I concluded, “It is time.”

And so I got to pull the ladder out and use the ladder. There it was… a solid ladder… standing tall next to the fort. It worked great… and I was very pleased. You might even say I was happy.

When I was done, and I was folding the ladder back up and getting ready to put it away, I thought about when I bought the ladder. I didn’t need it at that moment. But I put out money because I might need this ladder at some later point.

It is a very important principle. There are a lot of things in life in which we need to invest now… but we may not see any results now. We won’t see any immediate fruit from the investment we are making. But if we put forth the effort now, when the time is right, we will benefit from what we have done.  I recently heard a Chinese proverb that said: “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago.” An investment can be time, effort, talent, finances, etc…. but it is something that costs us something.

So, as we begin 2025, let’s think about what’s most important, and what do we want to invest in at the beginning of the year, even though we may not see the results of it until much later.

Jeff Becraft is the Director of Our Place of Hope and the Director Emeritus for Youth Corps and has dedicated much of his life to helping shift the vision of people’s lives. Our Place of Hope is a paradigm shift for people living with mental illness that encourages them to regain meaning, purpose, and hope for their lives. You can connect with Jeff at  [email protected].