13 Days

At the end of the thirteenth day after today I will be without gainful employment for the first time since I was about 13 years old and I started mowing lawns for the folks in my neighborhood. Over the intervening years I have worked at a multitude of things. I have always believed that a man who is able-bodied, that does not work, does not provide for his family, does not find a way to improve his lot in life, is a man who has missed God’s design for men.

I have often wondered what it would have been like had I been born in a family of great wealth. I have wondered at times, though I grew up quite poor by American standards, how my life would have turned had my Father been a slacker, or lazy, or gone. The truth is, that though I hated the garden, and all the “homework” that had nothing to do with school, I learned the value of hard work for the sake of making something of myself, and later, caring for my family.

I have tried to pass that along to my sons. I have encouraged young men along my journey to work hard, be focused on giving a full day’s work for a full day’s pay. The Scripture tells us that a man who won’t work should not eat the bounty of a man who does. While we are, as a society, well past that thinking, the product of hard work, even when shared with those who are undeserving, is not lost on making us better  persons.

I can’t even imagine not getting up early, going off to work until a sufficient production is accomplished, and then resting briefly for more of the same to follow each day.

But stay tuned. Lloveletters will keep coming – and I will let you know how it is to join the ranks of the unemployed.