Sunday Sunshine: Do Your Best

On this Labor Day weekend, we think about work: our own work and the work of others. Tomorrow, we have an entire day in which to rest, relax and appreciate these 24 hours off from our labors. Perhaps you'll enjoy the day traveling or on a picnic or with family. Perhaps you'll kick back and enjoy the luxury of a good read or a nap.

As you reflect on your work (which can include housework and volunteer work), do you enter into it with enthusiasm and a desire to give your best to the task, to the job?

When we put our whole selves into our labors, we honor the job before us. Each one of us has important work to do, whether it is in the home, in the workplace, in a volunteer setting or elsewhere.

Today, tomorrow, this week: Do your best. Give your work your best effort. Let the fruits of your labors speak for themselves.

Care for Everything We Touch

Last Sunday, the deacon at our church talked about caring for everything we touch and touching it reverently.  As she stated those words, I thought of the man who had washed my car the day before.  I admittedly don't wash my car very often, but that day, I was struggling to see out of the windshield, so I knew it was time to wash off some of the dirt and grime that had accumulated over the summer months.  I headed to a local car wash where it is part automated and partly done with the human touch.  The man who washed my car that particular day was new to me.  I must say that I have never had someone wash my car so carefully (not even when I do it myself).  I watched from inside the car as he methodically, carefully, slowly and meticulously wet down the vehicle's exterior, scrubbed at the windshield, headlights and front grill, and turned the mirrors inward so that the slapping of the whirring cloths wouldn't disturb them.  After my car traveled through the automated portion of the cleaning process, the gentleman was there to meet me, towels in hand to wipe the car dry.  Again, I watched how carefully, reverently he cleaned every surface of my vehicle, using his fingers to carefully extract some pine needles that just wouldn't wash away from the depths of the area where the windshield wipers lay.  This man lived our deacon's words: caring for everything we touch and touching it reverently.  This gentleman came into my life over Labor Day weekend.  What a shining example he was of taking his labors seriously and touching everything he did with reverence.  My car has never been washed quite so kindly.

Rest from Labors

On this Labor Day, I reflect on work and, specifically, the work I have done this summer. Last Friday, I completed a 12-week, limited term position with Sauk County government.  I was sorry to see it end, for the experience was challenging and educational and the people kind and caring.  It was as if my summer was a time of discovery and exploration, learning new things and being with new people in a new setting.  For the past four months, I have been recuperating from many years of constant work that were dotted with personal trials of illness and loss.  While a difficult choice to make, last spring I chose to leave a rewarding position that I had held for 12 1/2 years.  By doing so, I gave myself the almost unheard-of gift of time to refresh and start along a new career path.  We rarely have the luxury of making time to examine ourselves, learn what is really in our hearts and minds, and then embark on a new direction to suit the people we realize we have become.  That has been my summer -- learning and growing while freelance writing, volunteering for our Baraboo Big Top Parade and working at Sauk County.  I thank the good people of Sauk County government for helping me with my exploration and giving me invaluable insights as I chart new waters.