Work

by Henry Van Dyke

Let me but do my work from day to day,

          In field or forest, at the desk or loom,

          In roaring market place or tranquil room;

Let me but find it in my heart to say,

When vagant wishes beckon me astray,

          "This is my work; my blessing, not my doom;

          Of all who live, I am the one by whom

This work can best be done in the right way."

Then shall I see it not to great, nor small,

          To suit my spirit and prove my powers;

          Then shall I cheerful greet the laboring hours,

and cheerfully turn, when the long shadows fall

At eventide, to play and love and rest,

Because I know for me my work is best.

Henry Van Dyke

1852-1933

Henry Van Dyke was an American clergy, educator, diplomatic, and writer. He pastored a Presbyterian church in New York, served as a chaplain during WWI, taught English literature at Princeton University and served as a US minister to the Netherlands and Luxembourg. He wrote essays, poems and novels characterized by sensitivness and idealism.

            I was going through an old copy notebook I had done when I was a freshman and came across this poem. I can remember when I copied this out... huh... kinda embarassing looking back and thinking of what my life was like back then. Man, I was headed down the wrong path and copying poems like this seemed ridiculous to me. It was school because it wasn't a textbook. But I see now that homeschooling isn't about textbooks, its about furthering your child's knowledge by engaging them with what interests them.

            Looking back, I am not delighted that Mom made me copy this poem done. So anyway...as I read it I thought, hey, I can do an essay on this because it has been something I am struggling with.

Nehemiah 4:6

          "So we built the wall and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work."

            How many of us don't have a mind to work, because we have other things, funner things to do than work?? Now I am a hard worker when I want to be. I don't love to work tho, so sometimes I will shirk and not do jobs because I am lazy and someone else can do them.

Job 14:15

          "You shall desire the work of Your hands. "

            I hate doing dishes most of all. I don't know why I don't like doing dishes so much, but I just don't. 

            I don't like working outside, because I hate being dirty and being the prima donna/perfectionist that I am when I get dirty I take a while to get cleaned up and presentable, so its just a chore to get dirty and then clean again.

            I don't mind cleaning and picking up as long as I know where everything goes. And I don't mind organizing or straightening. Actually it is quite enjoyable to me to organize and straightening this up. That may just be the perfectionist in me tho. ;)

            But I just don't like working and sometimes that not liking to work gets the better of me and I blow things off. And usually it turns out I made the wrong decision by not working.

Ecclesiastes 12:14

          "For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil."

            I know everyone must struggle with this and if you don't then you are far ahead of me. I applaud you!!
            This poem goes on to talk about how no one can do my work for me. Only I can do my work the best way. I am the only one for the job. I am the only one who can complete it the right way.

Ecclesiastes 9:10

          "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might ; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the graver where you are going."

            Work is an all day, everyday thing. Our work is NEVER complete. Everyday there is something to do. My dad goes to work everyday, so that must mean that work is never done. Everyone's work is never done.

Psalm 104:23

          "Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening."

            When I work, I want to do it until it is complete. Until its DONE. I hate things that aren't done all the way. That is part of the reason I don't like work, I guess. If I can't complete something to the very fullest it needs to be done, I just don't want to and won't do it. But I don't think that is necessarily right. I must work and do it even tho I may not be able to finish it. But I suppose that if I work at it, it will be completed sometime. Whether sooner or later, it will be done.

Genesis 2:2

          "And on the seventh day, God ended His work which He had done and He rested on the seventh day from all His work He had done."

            When we work and complete it, we have a reward. Whether its the reward of accomplishment or the reward of the fruits of our work, but we do have a reward. God had the reward of resting on the seventh day. When we are finished with a task, we should always remember to look back on it and reflect whether it was done correctly. I mean by our attitudes and if it was completed the correct way.

2 Thessalonians 3:10

          "For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat."

            Just as there is a reward at the end of our work, there is a punishment if we do not do it. I have heard this all my life, and it has been true. When I don't do my work I don't get the rewards.

            If we do not work, and do it correctly, then we have not done what God wants us too. There is no such thing as a free lunch. There is nothing free in this country. Everything has a price.

            We were made to want to work and to do it willingly. If we don't do our work the right way, God will know and there will be consequences. We need to work and we need to want to work, we need to want to complete our work with a happy heart.

            That is one thing I am going to work on: my work attitude. Hopefully with God's help I can get over my bad attitude and I will come to like to do what I need to do. Not only do I need to work on actually doing it, but also having a good attitude while doing it.

            My Mom should have been a speaker for the world because she has all this wisdom and if you read her blog you only get a 5th of everything she has to offer. My Mom puts things into perspective so much and altho I can't stand somethings she shows me about myself, it doesn't change how true it is. She truly is amazing and I am so proud to call her my mama.

            Things have not been going very well this week, so she will probably be very surprised to read this. lol

            Anyway to get back to my thought train here, yesterday she was explaining to one of my siblings how if she doesn't do her job, then it ripples to others who can't complete their job because she won't complete hers.

            Here is the instance: Blondie is our golden lab mix who is very hairy and sheds like crazy. She is by the back door in the laundry room. Now I am in charge of laundry and I am supposed to fold laundry as it comes out of the dryer. But having Blondie right by the dryer it disgusts me to have to stand there and fold clean laundry right out of the dryer. I mean, if something falls on the floor it will land right on her carpet with all the dog hair. Then it will be full of dog hair and I will just have to wash it again. ugh... So instead of folding them right out of the dryer, I put them in a basket and take it to the parlor where there is no dog hair. But alot of times, I take it in there and have to leave to do something else and forget about the laundry. So it sits for days sometimes til I go out there and try and complete it.

            Now you are asking, 'why is the dog by the dryer in the first place??' Well that is where my sister comes in. We got Blondie before Lucy was born and my Mom trained that dog to sit and lay down when commanded. And since Lucy was born my Mom has not been able to take care of her and keep her trained. So the responsibility was given to the person who wanted to get Blondie. Well the person has not kept up the training so now she is untrained. So Blondie now stays on the back door. That is why she is by the dryer.

            So you see how Blondie's owner not doing what she is supposed to hinders me from doing what I need to and so I try to do what I need to another way and don't complete it.

            Now I do not completely blame my not doing what I am supposed to on the other person, but to an extent it is their fault.

            What I am saying is that when we don't complete our tasks, then we hinder others from doing theirs and it causes so many problems for our families. Our families need to have order and balance. When we don't do what we are supposed to we offset that balance and put things out of order.

            We can't have an out of order and unbalanced life. Have you ever heard the saying, "You have been weighed and measured and found wanting."?? If you take some time and really think about it, it is really profound. The scales must be balanced or what happens?? One side will fall. Can you name one area in your life that you want to fall?? I sure can't. We HAVE to have a balanced and ordered life or we will never be able to move forward. We will always be fixing what got bandaged up. If you got a deep cup that need stitches or surgery, would you want the doctor to just bandage it up and say "ok that should do it."?? I don't think so. We need to stop bandaging things and start fixing them. Have you ever put a band-aid on a cut just to have it come off because the sticky has gotten wet or dirty?? I have. I have found that when we bandage things up instead of fixing them the right way, we are just asking for them to fall apart again. That goes not just for physical things, but relationships and emotions too. We have to stop bandaging things and just fix the problem area.

            My task for, what the rest of my life, is going to be to learn to have a good attitude about working and work to accomplish and finish. I mean, I don't want God to stop working on me.

Philippians 1:6

          "Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."

            He promised to complete the good work He started in me and why shouldn't I do the same thing?? Why shouldn't I complete the work God has appointed to me??

            It amazes me that God really did give us EVERYTHING we need to know in his Book. Why should we look elsewhere, when everything we need to know about life and living according to God is in His Word??

Have a BLESSED day!!

As Always,

       !!!!

©AmandaDixon2007