Good Morning,
I have a busy day ahead of me and It looks like it will be full of things to do. I just poured a hot cup of Door County Chocolate Cherry Coffee and it is time to write.
Proverbs 19:15 NKJV Laziness casts one into a deep sleep,
And an idle person will suffer hunger.
I only said this statement once to my dad which proved I could think and remember outcomes. I was sitting on my bike close to the back door of our home one hot summer day, back around 1969. My dad asked me what I was doing. I made the wrong reply. "Nothing really. No one is home and I am bored. I have nothing to do." Dad was gone for about fifteen minutes. He came back to me with a list. "Since you have nothing to do. I will give you something to do." There was a list of about a dozen projects that needed attention and his bored son fit the description needed for the work. I was to start at the top of the list and work my way down. The last project was to paint the exterior of the house. I was promised a steak dinner and a new school jacket that matched the colors of our school if I completed the jobs satisfactorily. I had three weeks to finish the jobs, given if the weather would cooperate.
Things actually went pretty well and I was doing the work. It was being approved. And I could already taste that big steak. I did however spill some paint from not having the extension ladder tied off properly. After a good chewing out I resumed the work and finished the house with time and paint to spare. This too was inspected and approved. I knew my dad would keep his word and square up with his laborer. Which he did.
I emphasize the ladder chewing out, because that is how my dad died. He did not tie off the ladder and fell to his death. There has been this desire for me to be able to look over the top of my glasses and say to my dad. " Nice job ace" I quote that directly from him and then roll my eyes and tell him how much a gallon of Sears paint costs. Dad is gone and so is Sears. But I still have that desire to be a wise guy.
Upon pay day he asked me this question. "Of all the things I asked you to do, did they all seem necessary? I replied with a sheepish "yes". He went on. Why did I have to tell you what needed to be done if you could see it for yourself?" I had no answer. I handed him the money back for the coat and said "give me another list and I will earn the jacket too." He took the whole family out to dinner at the Ponderosa Steak House. He let me pay the bill with what he given me. He then said. "Make your own list."
Later that night he asked if he could explain the lesson I was to learn. "There is always something to do. If you had been reading a novel, sharpening the knives, or anything productive, I would have been impressed. Always stay busy and work to the good of yourself, family, or an employer. It will never fail you.
Later that year I took on a job working at the local Texaco filling station. My first job was cleaning the restrooms. My boss told me to clean them and when he came back from some other business he would give me a couple of other things to do. Those restrooms were shining like brand new when the boss came back and found me washing the windows on the office. He asked me if the restrooms were complete and they were. He inspected them and complimented my work. Then it happened. "Who told you to wash the windows?" "They were dirty and I did not want to be standing around when I could see the dirty windows needed cleaning." That was the only answer I could come up with. I asked if there was anymore work for me. I ended up wiping off all of the tools and sweeping the repair bays. My dad asked me what took me so long to clean two restrooms. I told him what happened and he just smiled. That next Saturday morning after "work". I came home and on my bed was the jacket I had wanted and was willing to work for.
My dad, who wasn't much on compliments looked at me and said "lesson learned. "Your boss called me and said if it was ok with me and you, he would like to put you on full time during the summer. It's up to you." I then discovered what a forty hour week was like.
My point is this. Don't let your hands be idle. There is always something to do. Or something that needs to be done.
Marty
That is honoring your parent.
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