Tough Jobs As A Challenge

The following statement is a powerful one in so many ways.

“When we accept tough jobs as a challenge and wade into them with joy and enthusiasm, miracles can happen.” (Author: Arland Gilbert)

Whether it is a task around the house or a major one in the community, it all begins with a challenge. Accepting the challenge is the first step. Wading into it is the second. Mixing in joy and enthusiasm is an added blessing.

So long ago the young couple stood beside each other at the front of the church. They held hands as the minister asked questions of them. The groom’s hand was hot and wet. He didn’t fare well in a suit. The bride’s hand was cool and firm. She knew that they could make it together.

Now it is 57 years later and they are still married. They are in their 80s now and very much slowed down. Wow! So much has happened to this couple. They have taken on challenges that few people would. They have experienced problems that would shake most people to their roots. Each time they took on a new task – it was together. Marriages made in the late 1940s were made of tough stuff…and climbed out of sometimes nothingness to eventually be the best there could ever be…

Somehow accepting tough jobs was the norm. Wading into it with a lifetime ahead was the next norm. Joy and enthusiasm was just there as a part of your Bank Account. It was drawn on whenever it was needed.

Oh how we need a touch of this DNA from these older couples! How we need to see and then consider the example. And if we did – could we change just enough to include the effort that would be needed to make the difference.

2007 may have even more problems than 1947 did. There are far more pressures on the same kind of young couple as they begin.

One clear difference is that the couple married in 1947 dreamed of someday being able to buy something better. The couple of 2007 buys something better and then dreams of someday paying for it. The couple of 1947 wears out the things that they have before ever buying something new. The couple of 2007 throws out anything that is wearing out and replaces it before they ever need to – just because it is “High Definition”, bigger, better and brighter – so the kids won’t have to suffer and they will have what others don’t yet have.

Instant “Getification” is a blight today that creeps up on our life tree and kill us. We want it so we deserve it. We need it because it is there. We get it to make us feel better.

The quote from Author Arland Gilbert, “When we accept tough jobs as a challenge and wade into them with joy and enthusiasm, miracles can happen.” This is so far from the real world of so many today – it is a tragedy.
For the couple of 1947 they can claim “a miracle”. For the couple of 2007 it is miracle if they will ever pay for it all before it is too old or obsolete.

“The Brick” is a place that you can get it before you ever have the money. Then after using it for a year you have to pay for it. Guess what happens when you don’t pay for it after 12 months – they take it back and you get a black eye on your credit. I saw a huge TV this week that will likely be going back to the store soon – it is only 9 months old now and there is no money to pay for it.

Today I looked at The Brick advertisement again – it proclaims, “Biggest Sale of the Year – Sale prices throughout the store – Plus do no pay for 15 months!”

That means that about 12 months from now the new HD TV that someone buys will likely be coming back.

So what is a tough job? Tough jobs I see every day include relationships. Tough jobs are my jobs that require a commitment to stay interested and going steady all the time.

So much to ponder… hmmmm?

~ Pastor Murray Lincoln ~