It’s the Yankee in me.
I put a lot of value on hard work.
When we were little, Mom and Dad made us work in the yard, around the house, every weekend. I hated it, for the most part. I remember one day – I was probably around seven — it was warm and sunny and all the neighbor kids were running around, laughing, playing tag, I don’t know what.
The four of us were weeding the garden alongside my parents, grumbling the whole time.
I remember my Dad saying, “When you’re through with this row, when everything’s weeded, then you can go play.”
I also remember saying something along the lines of “why do we have to do this when all the other kids don’t have to?”
And, the classic reply: “Someday you’ll thank me for this.”
Well, Dad, I guess that day is here.
We spent yesterday morning putting the garden to rest. The sun was bright, the air was cool, and the work loomed ahead of us, daunting. We pulled up all the woodier plants (broccoli and brussells sprouts get huge!) and threw them out back (Dad’s trying to minimize bugs next year, so we’re getting rid of the old plants). We took out the tomato stakes and piled them up, unknotted and threw out the rags we’d used to tie the plants to their stakes.
I harvested the last of the carrots. It’s hard to get them out of the cold ground without snapping them, but some survived.
Dad and I emptied the compost pile that’d been lying low all season, spread it out over the dirt, and my brother tilled it in.
When we were done, the place looked beautiful. Not nearly as sad as you’d think. Like well-deserved rest.
The girls got the last of the cucumbers.
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Now, let me get this straight: I am not a naturally hard worker.
When I was around ten, I remember thinking, I wish I weren’t so lazy. And then, like a lightbulb, I realized, I don’t have to be lazy. I can choose to work hard.
This was a revelation. I had thought up to this point that some people were born workers, and some people were born lazy.
This might be true. But it goes a lot further than that.
Every day I struggle to use my time wisely. To complete what I should complete – to give it my all.
Work hard in the garden.
Take care of my chickens.
Sell honey and eggs in a timely manner.
Sing.
Write.
Clean, do dishes, you know.
Write good lesson plans.
Teach engaging lessons, even when I’m exhausted.
Read my Bible.
Pray.
These are the things I must work hard at.
Work, outside of our workaholic culture, is a good and beautiful thing.
