New Friend

farmmaid · #1 12/07/04, 11:50 AM

Hubby and I have meet, through the barter board, a very generious man who has provided us with many things we NEEDED for our new homestead. He even offered any of his tools that we might need in the future. Such a refreshing person in these guarded times...that would be you John! Has anyone else had a surprizing new friend when least expected?...Joan

Ana Bluebird · #2 12/07/04, 04:46 PM

Let me tell you that when people believe that what they need will be provided, it is so true for us. When we needed help, we asked for a loan from a relative, he just gave us the money ($500) and never mentioned it again. When we needed a mechanic that was cheap, our next door neighbor stepped up and helped us to fix our broken old pickup. When we were going to build our own house, our pastor who is also a carpenter, gave us help and instruction. Years later, when we were going to build our garage, a new friend from church donated his skill and time, and he is 75 but climbs onto roofs better than I do. We have been so fortunate in the generosity of our friends and so blessed that they were there when we needed them. It's amazing how that has happened over and over again.

ed/IL · #3 12/07/04, 11:32 PM

Hopefully you will pay him back soon. When I loan money I do not want to ask for it back. I expect it back without asking. Pay the man back. Some people are professional moochers.

debitaber · #4 12/07/04, 11:40 PM

I have never been blessed like that , consider your self very blessed, and I agree, pay the man back. not topay back is mooching.

HilltopDaisy · #5 12/08/04, 12:18 AM

Yes, Joan, I've found almost everyone I've met through this forum to be exceptionally nice, generous people..............and John is a *very* special guy.

Jan Doling · #6 12/08/04, 12:18 PM

My neighbor finished my house for me so the mortgage company and the divorce court would let me keep it. He was 74. It took 2 years, but I paid him back with interest. My church helped sheet rock the kids' rooms and a church missionary school (7 Day Adventist) heard about my plight and brought several cars full of students and tools and spent all of their day off getting the house up to par for inspection. Those kids painted the exterior and some of the interior, installed doors & parquet floors, cleaned, straightened and held a house-blessing. My daughter's godmother brought her sister, bil, 3 sons and their friends on several occassions to grout the downstairs tile floor. My coworkers showed up one Sunday with household gifts, such as glass ware and dishes and put in the parquet floor in the loft. A Lowe's employee realized I did not have the funds when shopping for a lawn mower, so brought me his old one and tiled the bathroom floor and a shower. My kids and I would be homeless today if it weren't for the generosity of these people (some of whom were strangers).

There is no way to repay all those who helped me...I can only pass it forward and ask God to bless all of them.

debitaber · #7 12/08/04, 12:29 PM

I have done for lots of people, but I have never had any one come and do any thing for me. and if I borrowed money, [rare occasion], I have payed it back.
I can't believe people would do this for nothing.
just can't believe it.

Jan Doling · #8 12/08/04, 02:16 PM

Believe it, debitar, there are some truly wonderful people out there!

lowmaintwyf · #9 12/08/04, 11:29 PM

K- here's my story...This past summer my Hubby & I headed to town to buy a deep freeze (70 miles away), anyway on the way home our vehicle broke down...we were still 50 miles from home. So there we were stuck on the side of the road when a lady stopped to see if we needed help. Talked to her for a few minutes, mentioning that we were still 50 miles from home, she offered us the use of her pickup overnight so we could tow the vehicle home, keep it overnight and bring it back the next day. We had never met this woman before she was just generous that way I guess!

Jen

flutemandolin · #10 12/09/04, 08:52 AM

When we first moved to our homestead two years ago, winter was coming and we were in a tight spot financially. We had nowhere else to go. I don't know why we chose to go to a certain country church one Sunday, we weren't really churchgoing people, but everyone seemed very friendly. That afternoon, a couple from the church showed up with a load of firewood and some venison. The church gave us gift certificates to the grocery store, more wood, Christmas gifts for the children, etc. I don't know how we would have made it without them. We built an addition to our cabin this fall, and ten guys from church showed up and had it framed, closed in and roofed within a day! I cooked them a big pot of chili for lunch.

I think some of you are too quick to judge Ana Bluebird about the money from the relative; it really does not say specifically whether the money was paid back or not, so any judgment is based on assumption. The point was more the generosity of the relative, not the moral obligation of the borrower. Truly generous people do exist, thank God, and I am working on improving that virtue in myself.

country friend · #11 12/09/04, 08:31 PM

Good folks are out there . About two years ago a lady posted on countryside her husband and her needed help moving . My wife and I went to help them move . We found that we had a lot of the same likings . They liked homesteading and the lord and so do my wife and I. Her husband works in heating and air condtioning and the next year he came up and put centeral air in are home for free . Yes there are good folks out there .
This year I met some great folks on horse rescue board and four of them took the time to come to a horse auction to help me pick out a great working horse .
I know we take a chance not knowing some of these folks we e-mail but the same can be said about anyone you met on the street or in a church . Sometimes you just take a chance or friendships would never grow.

debitaber · #12 12/10/04, 12:31 AM

I must be livin wrong, I am 58 yrs old, and have never in my life met anyonelike you people are saying. My hubby and i are so poor, we barely make ends meet for the homestead payment. and that is all, everythingwe eat comes from our homestead , and I canned it up for winter. we don't have one red cent for christmas, and have never had anyone ever give us or me a cent. you people are blessed beyond blessed.
thank God for the blessings that he gave you , in those folks. cause things like that dpon't just happen to most people, most people do like hubby and I, you either make it , grow it, and can it, or do with out.