Well, this is the week we've been waiting for...for months.....the towers RM has been working on will be shipped. We calculated, in addition to a number of other procedures, that he will have drilled nearly 5000 holes into either aluminum or steel, which explains why his wrists, hands, fingers, bones all hurt. But, praise God, no significant injuries, no significant delays. We'll all be glad to see these things go as they have a huge impact on the family life. We see Dad around, but we don't really see him, if you know what I mean. He attends events here and there, but then has to immediately leave as soon as he can to finish off the project. Why so much pressure? Because if he doesn't deliver them on time, he doesn't get paid for them. It's actually written in the contract.
So then why do we love towers so much? Why do we take these brutal contracts? I haven't written very much positive stuff about them lately. We take them because they pay quite well and this year if our son does get into school, we will definitely need the extra cash. They will allow us to pay a good chunk of the mortgage down, too, so even though it is hard work, we love towers. There's a chance he might get another one of these this year and though it's hard to wrap our heads around it, we'll take the work.
It has been a great lesson in the "no shortcuts" philosophy. Would I love to win the lottery? Actually, no...where's the satisfaction in that?! If and when we pay off the mortgage, I will truly be able to say we truly worked hard to do it (by God's grace, of course). We aren't sitting around hoping it will happen. We are, or at least my husband and boys are, working till their bones ache. My part has been, as usual, to keep them alive and fed, with clean clothes and a place they can come home to that is pleasant and somewhat tidy. The few times that I was away over lunch, he just didn't eat! I would ask him later why he didn't eat, but it was just another thing he had to think about and his head was too full already, so he just bypassed lunch on the days I wasn't here. People may have thought it strange when I would say, "I'm busy, my husband has a contract due..." when I was asked over, but it really meant I was busy, too!
There's been a lot of talk about "millenials" lately. They say this particular group of people are lazy and entitled. They expect mommy and daddy to shell out everything for them as mommy and daddy did their whole lives. Supposedly, from what I've read, this generalization comes from the fact that mommy and daddy had to work really hard to get where they are today and because of that they supposedly don't want their kids to have to work as hard as they did....thus the constant helping out. The only problem with that is that the kids never learn to work and what seemed like a good idea actually wasn't. Hard work becomes a very uncool thing. As I continued to read about them, this group of people are now struggling with huge amounts of debt and there is no way for them to ever get out of debt as they just aren't willing to work. I read sad story after sad story in the news over the last few weeks of their hopeless situations.
If nothing else, I was glad for the printed stories as it was great incentive for discussion with my husband and our kids, to keep persevering, to not be afraid to work hard, to continue to avoid debt, to set goals for them (big goals - house and car...sooner than later...). Of course, not everyone millenial has that reputation. My hairdresser, for one. She and I were talking and she kept talking about her house. House? She was so young, maybe 27, how did she own a house? Unbelievably she bought her first house, on her own, at 22! How did she do it?! She set a goal. She told me that she decided, "I want a car by 18." Then she got it and paid it off right away. Next, she said, "I want a house." So she worked at least 2 jobs, maybe more, sold her horse, and by 22, owned a house. My two girls go see her now and I told her, "Make sure you mention what you did to them!" So, now she drops all sorts of hints whenever they are there. Does she have an amazing social life? All the best clothes? Maybe not, but it doesn't matter to her, she set goals and was willing to work hard to achieve them. Talk about breaking the millenial mold.
"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven..." (Eccl.3:1) Right now, it is a season of work. One day there will be a season of rest. After the towers are over, we move right into farming season and prepping the house again for the cold winter ahead. So there won't be much time for rest...yet, but we know that a time of rest will come. And, even though we are working hard, we take time for rest most evenings so that we aren't completely worn out. Maybe the rest won't come until retirement, I don't know, all I do know is that it is for a season. I don't know how long that season is, but God knows our limits, so I can trust Him with the unknown. Ecclesiastes also says we are to "find enjoyment in his toil". We actually do find enjoyment in our toil as we are usually all together. I think that's why we don't see the hard work as that hard.
Ecclesiates encourages me with this final verse that we are to busy with what God has given us to do, "I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with." (3:10) So for now, that's what we do - we take the work He gives us and keep on keeping on until He tells us to stop.
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