Isn't It About Hard Work?

For the past three years our family has delivered phone books.  It definitely isn’t our favorite thing to do, but it works out to be a great job for our kids!  Each year we gear up for the month long, sometimes longer, process.  We go to the printing company and pick the three- thousandish phone books, unload them at our house, bag the phone books, and deliver them.  It sounds pretty simple, but it really is quite a bit of work.  I would be lying if I said we all got along famously during the process.  To be honest, I don’t think any of us are at our best during the month of phone book delivery.  Our arms get sore, our legs get tired, and there are usually tears involved…

You may ask if it is so much work, why do we put ourselves through the trouble?  

There honestly isn’t anything that feels much better (well maybe a trip to Disneyland or a day at a Spa) than when we have delivered that last phone book.  There is such a great feeling of accomplishment.  We know we have worked hard, and we have accomplished something difficult.  It is so good for our children, our whole family really, to know how good it feels to accomplish something hard.  It is good for them to know the benefits and rewards that come from good old fashioned hard work.  The paycheck also helps too...

Every year I am hesitant when we get the phone call asking if we would like to deliver again, but then I remember the payoff that comes at the end.  When we look at the whole picture, the hard work is definitely worth it!

How does this relate to marriage?  I have found over the years, marriage is hard work!  There are challenges and obstacles that are difficult to work through.  In relation to problems that arise in marriage H. Wallace Goddard PhD wrote:  “We can be mad and feel cheated because of those problems.  We can move on to another relationship- which will inevitably have its own set of problems.  Or we can become experts in dealing with the particular challenges faced in our current relationship.”  I think sometimes we think the way to solve our problems is to give up and move on.  I recently found this quote on Pinterest:  “The grass isn’t greener on the other side.  It’s green where you water it.”  As I look back on the challenges my husband and I have faced, they have been difficult, but we are so much closer and stronger from plowing ahead and watering AND watering the grass.  Dry spots come up, but as we keep working, even the dry spots become green again.  

Week #6 Challenge

Whether you are married or single, think of a time when you have faced a difficult struggle in your life.  How did this struggle change you?  Do you feel like you are a stronger person from this particular challenge?  Write down how this experience made you a better person.