hard work

Today started at an early 6:35... when I realized my alarm had been going off for 5 minutes.

Britt & I scrambled to the car in our paint clothes by 7am. We got bagels and coffee then picked up Jon by 7:30 and was at Sunshine by 8.

From moving all of Britt's kitchen cabinets from one apartment to another, stacking her flooring, and painting the ceiling and walls. Four of us who really, did not know what we're doing found ourselves with extended paint rollers covering the ceiling with new fresh paint. Soon our necks hurt and arms were sore. Then came the hues of brown bread and apple cider, oh those walls are festive!

My thoughts through the day were how blessed I am to have Brittney in my life and the things God has taught me through her. I am so encouraged by Jon and his passion for Christ and love for theology. And Momma Rost was such a joy to work with and is always such a warm person to be around. I thanked God while I spent a few hours in Britt's new room coating apple cider paint on her walls.

My thoughts also wandered to my past, my family history, how I grew up with hard work as a natural part of daily life. It was normal to wake up at 5 or 6am daily and feed the cattle, pigs, and sheep, then come inside make breakfast for the family, do my indoor chores and then on to my school work. The weekends and summers consisted of hours outdoors doing whatever dad said. We worked hard, and sometimes there were those days where just dad and I would get to go to lunch, that was a treat. Or go to a farm sale, and not really have to 'work' on a Saturday!

I'm thankful for those memories and for my dad who instilled in me the importance of knowing how to work hard and work well. At the end of this day I feel like I have accomplished so much, maybe from the way my body feels so exhausted and virtually every muscle above my waist hurts, but there is just something about hard work that for me is fulfilling. Maybe I am talking about physical hard work, my job right now is hard work, but more mentally, not really physically. I look forward to my new job, where soon, I will have the opportunity to be incredibly physically active at work, putting those muscles to good work and having to grunt to help move stuff around.

This week I have had the strong desire to pick up weight lifting... may sound strange, but for some reason it fascinates me. I took a class on it for my fitness elective at Moody, but I don't remember a thing. Maybe I'll have time to go to the gym and can find someone to help me when I start my new job.