"There is no escape from hard work"

"There is no escape from hard work" was something that was mentioned (in a positive sense) in one of our BSF lessons last year, and it really stuck with me at the time. That size 12 font never looked bigger than at that moment, and a lot of days now it is big in my mind as well. Mostly right now the "hard work" comes from my day job, because it is Christmas, and that is one of our major busy times. And it has been Christmas for me at work since the middle of August. I work for a floral supply wholesaler, selling hard goods (not flowers), and my friend Dave and I (pictured here at my wedding with me, he was one of "the boys") are responsible for the warehouse, and we do all the shipping and receiving and inventory management etc for the company. So since August we have either been receiving Christmas stuff into inventory, getting it organized, bringing it into the store to be put on the shelves and on display, or packing it up in orders to picked up or shipped out. I think I pulled my first Christmas-related order in September. And pretty much since then we have been going non-stop. We even have a website now, check it out here if you like, although it's kinda boring...
Anyways, in the spirit of this type of work, I have been thinking of what I have learned from working over the years, and I think I will share a few of them now, in chronological order if I can remember right...

1. I got my first summer job when I was 12. My mom was away for a week or so and dad couldn't leave us at home so took us to work with him (cheap child labor...haha!) in the mornings. I was just stocking shelves and doing data entry in one of the departments for the week but they liked me so much they asked if I could work the rest of the summer. So for $5 an hour, which was huge money for a 12 yr old, I worked 15-20hrs a week for the rest of the summer. They like me so much they gave me a bonus when I left - a 100 dollar bill. Kids that age don't see many of those, so you can imagine what that was like...
They invited me back the next summer so I went back and worked again, but this time I thought that because they liked me already I didn't have to prove anything, so I basically slacked off all summer, doing my own thing, I remember doing a lot of word searches too when I was supposed to be doing other stuff. At the end of the summer, when it was my last day, I remember expecting the bonus again, expecting the smiles and the "It was good to have you here!" sort of comments from by boss. But there was nothing, he didn't even come out to say good bye. He later said to my dad "I think Brad's not ready for this yet, maybe when he's older he can come back." Ouch. I spent the rest of my teenage years working in a different department, in a much less privileged position. It was awful. And that has stuck with me since.

2. There is always stuff to do if you don't demand to be payed for it. Of course, not everyone can afford that, but I spent a year of my life where I didn't have a full time job, and basically just was available to help where I was asked to. I was so busy it wasn't funny. By the end of it I was pretty much working full time and had done some interesting things, and had really helped some people who needed it. It was good. I never demanded any money, but if people offered to pay, I told them I would do it either way. At the end of the year I had to add it up for tax purposes, and I had made over $10,o00. Weird.

3. I still don't work for money. I get paid, but that's God taking care of me, not me going out and demanding it. I was at work a while ago and saw someone and said "hey, how's it going?" like I normally do. They said to me with this bored expression on their face "you know, same sh**, new day..." (excuse the french). My first thought was "well ya, same with me, but I consider it a good thing..." I work where I work, and do what I do because God has taken me there, and has laid out what He expects from me. It's never ever boring. Difficult sometimes, but never boring. And circumstance has little to do with it. But it occurred to me that day, that if I worked there "for the money," I would be terribly bored, and worse, as well. Jesus promises freedom, and He delivers.

4. Dave says to me one day "Brad, I know people here are safer because I take time to pray for their safety." It blew my mind. Dave is a Christian too, and his point is that others are blessed too because of God's activity through us in that place. I think most of the time it is unseen, but when we apply a godly principle in our work, it blesses others, and they see the source. When we learn how to organize a warehouse, it is because God wrote the book on organization (have you looked outside lately?), if people stay safe, it is because people like Dave pray. When we learn how to work with others, even if we don't like them so much, it is because God is teaching us to be servants. The first witness of our lives at our workplace is what we do, not what we say. Most of the time we're running around like crazy and there's not much time to talk, so something else is going to have to talk for us. I tell Dave I wouldn't want to work with anyone else, and its true. Half of that reason is that he is my brother in Christ, and that takes away about 90% of the issues that there would be. It's obvious we're connected.

5. This isn't chronological, but when I was back around 12, working during my first year, I was talking to a friend at the end of my shift. We had both just taken up golf, and we were talking about our golf swings. My dad came to get me, saw what I was doing, and asked me when we were leaving "did you clock out yet?" "No," I answered. I can't remember what his exact response was, but he told me in no uncertain terms that standing around and talking about golf swings while the timecard is running (ie. I'm getting paid for it) is theft. While I'm at work, I am committing myself to do a job and they commit to paying me for that. It is wrong for them not to pay me, it is wrong for me not to work. That has stuck with me since. I still think about it when I'm at work and start talking to people. We are social by nature, and I think it is good that we take a little time to get to know each other, but there are some who abuse that, and that is called theft.

6. And finally, there is tremendous satisfaction in getting a job done. Even at cost to yourself. I worked from 6:30am to 10pm one day last week just to "get the job done." I was tired, but it was a way better place to be than to be not-so-tired, and not-so-done the job. Having things incomplete, when they should be complete, sucks. Now, if you're working 6:30am to 10pm every day just to "get the job done," you need to seriously reconsider yourself. There is words (and support groups) for people like you.

For the record, one day there will be an escape from hard work, everything here comes to an end. Until then, back to work...