Doing More

My sweet daddy turned 83 last September. He truly is the greatest man I have ever known.

At 83, he still golfs at least twice a week. He not only plays but organizes golf for the other senior men. He cares for my mother like a queen. He still cuts the grass, trims the bushes, and on occasion climbs the ladder to clean the clutters. (I like knowing about that after the fact.)

Recently he ran into some lawnmower trouble and the mower has been in the shop for about 3 weeks. With rain coming in abundance early in the week and an already overgrown lawn my parents were stressed. My son and I decided to go over to their house while they were gone so he could cut the grass for my dad.

My thoughts were to unload the mover, cut the grass, load the mover back on the trailer then head home. Quick in and quick out. I had lots of other things to do. But unbeknownst to me my son had not only loaded the mover but he also loaded the blower and weed-eater. His thoughts were higher than mine.

I don’t do movers and the like so I brought a book to read while he zoomed the yard. As I opened the book and started to read I heard the sound of the weed-eater. I looked up and saw my son trimming around the trees and edging the driveway.

I was proud then I filled with guilt.

I wanted to do this for my parents but wanted to do it my way: quickly. No disrespect to my parents but I had other things to do and I knew that if I could get this done quickly then I could get back to my list.  I never once stop to consider doing more. My son did not consider doing less.

I feel quite certain he did not think of Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” But I believe God has stored this verse in his heart because he lived it out-loud today. As he wowed his mother, he pleased his Heavenly Father. What an example for me! An unexpected lesson by an expected teacher.

What if we all approached every task with the doing more mentality?