Recently we had some challenges at Chumley Construction.
“Growing paints” is what it’s called. With a growing company, it takes on its own personality, its own life, habits, needs…it literally is like raising up a child.
You see, when the business was small, things were “simpler”. I only had to manage…me, and not the 10 people we now have working at Chumley Construction. Multiple crews, clients, materials, inspections, delivery times, specialty ordered components, communication of drawings and as-builts to the field crews, meetings, can add up quickly! Now, factor in the learning curve of balancing all of that, delegating responsibility, and shooting for the #1 goal that I personally have in my heart for Chumley Construction: Serving people to hopefully result in happy, more than satisfied clients and completed projects!
It really is like a dance, sometimes a slow dance, and many days it feels like a mosh pit while being pushed and pulled in many different directions! And that’s OK! I mean truly, we could be sitting in the middle of another great recession, hardly any work, no phone calls, laying people off due to lack of new projects…growing pains and the “problems” that come along with growth are good “problems” to have! And for that I AM thankful! I have heard it said:
Now let me be clear as day: We do NOT have a perfect batting average. Let me be doubly clear, we DO make mistakes…I mean, I’m pretty sure that Chumley Construction employees (and myself) are humans, not gods. I admit it, I do make mistakes daily! Sometimes I can be too hard on the guys, expecting a lot out of them. Sometimes I set unrealistic expectations on production schedules. I suppose the list could go on and on about what I see in my personal self and my company that could improve. I digress, but with that, let me introduce you to a man named Jake Van Oostrum.
I met Jake at my good friend’s wedding,
just a few hours before my friend was to marry his bride. We were sitting in the back of the church, all of us groomsmen, and there walks in Jake. A tall man, gentle smile and a friendly person. One of the first things I noticed about him was one of his arms was limp and he didn’t move it much. As our conversation continued on, he shared with me that he had been a painter for many, many years! Of course I thought to myself, “Sir, you have one hand…there is no way you could’ve been a painter.” But the story of how he lost function of his arm, and how he established a reputable rapport with his entire community was outstanding.
The story goes that years ago (I believe it was at least the late 1950s) he was helping move some lumber when a beam fell and struck him on his head. Jake lost all use of his arm and from his words, “spent a couple of years feeling really down and depressed.” I couldn’t imagine the depression that would fall upon a young man who had his whole life ahead of him. Now with only the function of one arm, what would a guy do?! As it turned out, he had some friends that encouraged him to start painting, to at least give it a shot. He excelled at it, doing so well that he always had a list of people waiting for his services! Enthusiasm won the day, fueling him to go places and be accomplished in business in a way that many people with two functioning arms could only dream about. But he did leave me with an incredible message, a great amount of wisdom for such a short conversation.
“You know, I always tried to do my best job Joe. But occasionally if a homeowner wasn’t happy, I would try to tell everyone before I started their job…to let ME know FIRST so that I could fix it, to make it right, BEFORE they went and told other people about the work.”
How simple was that? He understood that he wouldn’t ever purposefully create a bad paint job, or try to under perform, but he recognized the biggest part in customer service: to be a servant. I, we, at Chumley Construction may not get everything right, every time. But we are committed to getting the job done right and ending it on a high note. One day, I hope to have a legacy like the one Jake left behind in his wake.
Tjitze Jacob (Jake) van Oostrum, 85, of Sunnyside died on Sunday, Aug. 4, 2013 in Sunnyside. Mr. van Oostrum was born Nov. 28, 1927 in Oudega, Smalingerland, FR, The Netherlands to Willem and Trijntje Alida (Drenth) van Oostrum. Jake married Reinskje (Rena) Abma on May 11, 1951 in Wommels, FR, The Netherlands. He immigrated with his wife Rena and their two young children to Outlook, in January of 1956. The van Oostrum family moved to Sunnyside in August of 1972. While living in the Yakima Valley, Jake worked for Timmermans Lumber Company in Outlook and for Western Farmers in Sunnyside. Jake and Rena operated their small Dutch import store from their home in Outlook and most notably he was the owner of Jake’s Painting Service. For 30 years, Jake and Rena painted houses, dairies, churches, schools and businesses in the surrounding area. They earned more than a living at it; they developed extraordinary relationships with all their customers. Jake was a member of the Sunnyside Christian Reformed Church. Over the years, he was actively involved with the Sunnyside Christian Schools and its thrift store. Jake and Rena loved to travel – be it driving across America to visit their daughter and family or a drive through the beautiful Yakima Valley and, on those ventures, they saw God’s handiwork in every turn of the road. Dad loved the Lord and had trusted in the redeeming work of his Savior Jesus Christ. We will cherish the memory of our last visit in which he encouraged us by reciting from memory various passages from the Psalms even as we tried to be of encouragement to him in the valley of the shadow of death.
