Labor of love

Not of work

So yesterday was Labor Day (which is why you didn’t receive your Memo on schedule), and I had set it aside as a day I was going to get a lot of work done. We had a busy weekend – two birthday parties, an overnighter for kids, people over at our house, I had a wedding rehearsal and a wedding to officiate, and of course, church. Not much excess time to get anything else done, including the book that I am still trying to write.

So, I had intended to use Monday as a workday. It was a “labor” day, after all – so it seemed appropriate. But some friend of ours at church threw off that plan a bit by asking us to go to the lake with them. The grandpa in the family owns a couple boats and they were heading up to tube and float around on the lake all afternoon. To be clear, I love doing all of that. But with as giddy as my kids were about the opportunity, I was selfishly seeing the hours I would be losing and grumbled a bit.

In the frantic rush to leave Monday morning – running to get ice for the cooler, running to grab some medicines at the pharmacy that Jen thought we might need, packing towels and sunscreen, goggles and beach balls – I called my mom to tell her that if for any reason she would need us that day, we would be gone that day.

She apparently sensed it in my voice and asked if I wasn’t wanting to go. I told her that I thought it sounded like fun, but I didn’t really have time for fun, that I had planned on knocking out a bunch of work that was now a lost cause. She gently reminded, “But you’ve got your kids and family with you, you’ll make memories, let this be a good day.”

What I think she meant was to look at the things I was getting to do rather than the things I wasn’t going to get to do. It was good advice, and that, “Let this be a good day” remark was an excellent reminder that while we may not be able to control all the circumstances of our day, we can certainly control our reactions to them.

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I don’t need to tell you that we had an absolute blast. Grayson wanted to ride whatever tube I was riding – even got his feelings a little hurt when I told him I needed to ride some with the girls as well. He’s still a momma’s boy, but since momma’s previous neck surgery precluded her from doing any tubing herself, it was all me. And the two of us laughed so hard crossing the wake and bumping up into the air – the little dude was cackling he was laughing so hard.

It was exactly what my mom was getting at. We made incredible memories. Laying down to sleep last night, Gray asked if I’d lay next to him until he fell asleep. I, of course, agreed. He grabbed my arm with his eyes shut and said, “Today was really fun, Daddy.”

I don’t have to tell you how much better that was than all the work I could have gotten done.

But here’s the deal – all of you reading this agree with me on that point. At least I think you do. I think we’re all on the same page with the idea that investing in family – or even just people in general – is a much better use of our time than the occupation or work that we do. We have all heard, or said, or at least agree with the axiom that when laying on our death bed, we won’t pine away for all the missed opportunities to log more hours in the office. We won’t think back wistfully at the moments we spent on the factory floor. We’ll miss the moments like I had yesterday. We’ll long for just one more day with our kids or grandkids. That’s the way this works and we all know it.

But we don’t all act like we know it. And why?

Part of it is our self-serving culture that puts such an emphasis on “success” and advancement. We feel obligated to make enough money, to have a big enough house, to have enough toys, to get the big promotion. Society tells us that when we do those things, we will be grateful. But as far as I can tell, all that those kinds of “successes” bring is an insatiable desire for more. It’s never ending. And if it never ends, then it takes a conscious, intentional decision to quit chasing those things in order to invest our time more wisely.

Many of us try to fool ourselves into thinking that if we “just get to that income” or if we “just get this promotion,” we will be able to slow down. It doesn’t work that way. As long as we will ignore our relationship with the Father, our relationships with the earthly family God has blessed us with, Satan will keep giving us things to keep us busy, promising us the world if we’ll believe it.

I almost believed it yesterday. And I’m really glad I didn’t.

I’m trusting at least some of you needed that reminder today.