Work

I drove by what will be our new house in a few months yesterday.  I started thinking about all the things I am looking forward to and can't wait to take advantage of, set-up, etc.: having my own kitchen again, having our furniture, storing our things in the basement for easy access, and the garden.  The only problem is that I am convinced I have a black thumb; after all, I killed every plant I had in college.  Nick will have to be the one to care for it, and as he works all day, almost every day, it might be a bit of a challenge.  It's a shame, I thought, that planting, gardening, reaping is so much work, thanks to the curse laid on the land by the Fall of Man.  But, wait, is that totally fair?

From his creation, Adam was actually given a job: to care for the earth.  He named the animals (a feat in itself, if you think of the variety that God has created).  He tended the garden.  Did that meant there were weeds even then?  Did he have to dead-head plants?  I don't know what that practically means, even less since I really don't know what is really involved to make plants thrive.  I assume, though, that it was not nearly the amount of work or difficulty we might experience now.  But still, he did have to work.  I realized: we were created to work.  We were made for it.  God never intended us to sit back on our heels, lazing about on green, leafy couches and do... nothing.  We were made to enjoy working.  It is only because of the fall that working is hard (and why now this idea of work means to do something difficult).

This is nothing new; it's not rocket science.  I already believe we will be working in Heaven and loving it.  But it did bring new implications to me.  First, I wondered what God makes of the American practice of retirement.  Where people work hard for thirty, forty, fifty years so that they can then kick back their heels.  Is that the way it's supposed to be?  Or, should it really be that then we are free to work in the ways that we choose to, rather than at our boss's behest?  Work in your garden, work in your home office, work in your kitchen.  Work by volunteering!  It also reminded me that I should take joy in the work before me: caring for our child and our home.  The first part, caring for Eliza is a cinch.  Not always easy, no.  But I love it, as I love her.  The second part is more of a challenge.  I hate housework.  I hate to clean.  I know all the statements about making the house a home for your family and making it a good environment to live in.  Well, is it such a good environment if Mom is gritchy all the time from doing housework?  No.  But that's up to me: I can have a good attitude or a bad one.  I think this is something the Lord is really laying on my heart, because it comes back to me whenever I come face to face with the Proverbs 31 Woman (bless her) and even recently in our Bible study.  Make my home happy by being happy that I get to make our home.  I am a homemaker.  I love being a stay-at-home mom, but I am more than that.  I am a housekeeper, a cook; I set the tone for our home in how I care for it and for my family.

So, sigh, I must leave you now.  I have things to dust, things to vacuum, things to pick up.  Maybe some day I'll get the organization thing down so I know what to do with all the little odds and ends that don't really have a place but a use, so you can't just throw them away.  That's another thing to look forward to: having more than one room to live in (or rather, our stuff to live in). :)