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| Stephen Bly |
Stephen Bly
Copyright©1994
Long before radio and TV, even among the cowboys and
ranchers of the Old West, brand names meant something to them.
John B. Stetson made beaver hats with high crowns and wide
brims like no one else. A man only had to buy one Stetson in his lifetime,
unless a footpad or sneak thief stole it.
Another man named Joe Justin settled into Old Spanish Fort
in 1879 on the Texas side of the Red River and began making boots. Without help
from advertising agencies or basketball star endorsements he managed to gain
such a reputation that a pair of Justin's still denote distinctive boots.
Over in El Paso another Texan practiced his craft. As a
young boy in Childress, P.M. Kelley sat around the ranch headquarters listening
to cowpunchers complain about their bits and spurs. Determined to do better,
Kelley gathered a few tools and the help of his younger sister to make better
ones.
P.M. Kelley sold everything he could make directly to the
cowboys who lined up to purchase them. Owning a pair of Kelley's sat a man in
the highest class of punchers. Try buying a Kelley bit or spur at an auction
today and you'll have to get a bank mortgage to cover it.
You can't beat a solid reputation.
What's the quality of what you create?
The shelves in the kitchen? The flower garden? The rebuilt
doll house? Your family's next meal?
Or your relationships? Your marriage? Your family? Your
service for God?
The Bible says the day will come when "the fire will
test the quality of each one's work" (1 Corinthians 3:13).
What's at least one way you could step it up a notch?
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