I hope you all had a great weekend. Two of the boys and I had a pretty good day yesterday working together outside. Mary took off to Tallahassee Florida to meet half way with her folks (they live in Fernadina Beach FL) to pick up two of our boys that had spent a week with them for their vacation. In the mean time I had Alec, the second eldest and Isaac our youngest boy spending the day with me.
The day started off getting mom out the door with Eliana our princess to pick up the other brothers. After she took off, me and the other two took off to "McD's" for an accelerated breakfast before the days events. Boy was it hot, even at 0900 in the morning. The days mission consisted of hauling fire wood for this winter, and to rebuild the firewood rack. We went and got three truck loads full of lumber from my First Sgt's house. In the meantime the heat index soared to 110 degrees, whew!! It wouldn't have been so bad except for the fact that my 1989 Toyota truck has no AC, talk about brutal. We did this across town three times.
After the second run it was pushing about 1300, (1PM for civilians) so we stopped at a new pizzaria in town to see what they were all about. The pizza wasn't too bad, however, the AC and cold drinks took the cake, talk about relief, it was AWESOME. The third trip commenced, and when it was done it was time to unload the lumber, clean out the truck and get to work on redoing the area where we stack all of our firewood for the winter.
Isaac my seven year old was on it, he swept out the truck, and took time to pose for a picture in the process. He did a good job in light of the heat and the fact that he was worn out by the end of the day. Alec was my camera man in addition to bringing allot of muscle to bear to get this job done. Both of their work ethics far exceed that of mine when I was their age.
It is so important to teach our kids that work is good, yes I said good. Too many times I hear parents tell me that I should enjoy these years when they (the kids) are eager to please and willing to be helpful, because the day will come when they won't help anymore.
I laugh to myself and can't help but ask the question quietly "whose the parent here, and why does the child even have the option of whether or not they are helping"? We need to train our kids to work, and to work hard. Not working is not an option, and if we are deliberate about raising and discipling our kids, in this case our sons we are honoring God. As you recall after God put Adam in the garden, you didn't see Adam park himself under the closest tree to lounge about in the shade. No, God put that boy to work, just as he [God] had been toiling for several days building the universe during the creation story of Genesis.
I'm proud of my sons that they aren't afraid to get their hands dirty and get busy working. They are boys and they'd rather be playing or fishing than busting their tails out in the field. I find that it's a work in progress, same as it was for me, but I also find it to be so rewarding that when I look at my sons and I tell them how much fun I've had working with them that day, and they turn to me and grin and say "Yes sir, that was a good time today". Even after all the sweat, crazy heat, bumps, cuts and bruises they tell me they had a good time too, that feels so good. That's fun, "man style", though I must admit to be honest I wish we had been fishing instead.
Well catch you guys later,
Joe
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