Work for Free?

Ahhhhh, chores. The business of running a family can't seem to get by without that 6 letter word getting involved: taking out the garbage, mowing the lawn, setting the table, cleaning out the dishwasher, sweeping the floor, making the bed, folding the laundry, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Sometimes my children get a little crabby when they are invited/told to get going on their chores. I don't pay them or anything. It is just part of being in our family. Yet most parents with children above the age of 7 have heard this complaint: "You mean I have to work for free?"

Fortunately (or unfortunately) for them, they have me for a mother, and I have a standard comeback:

"Not at all! You do have to do the work, that's for sure, but you don't have to do it for free! Doing this work is the fastest way to become rich!" 

(Sounds pretty good so far, but my kids know me well enough to know there is probably a catch).

"But it all depends on how you do it. If you do it right, offering your work and your efforts to God with a good attitude, you can stock up your account with Virtues, and Character, and of course "Brownie Points" (at our house we call these "Murphy Awesome Points" but that is another story). 

"BUT, my darlings, you can also work for free if you want. You can complain, whine, mope, and have a bad attitude. Then, your reward is already paid: you got to complain, whine, mope, and have a bad attitude. But then you did all that work anyway and got nothing for it. So you choose! Do you want to get paid or do you want to work for free?"

As is often the case, these little lessons come straight out of my mouth and turn around and stare me in the face, because this lesson is as true for the little chores we give our children as it is for the "grown up" duties that we must fulfill as adults. Everyday, God has work for us to do, and there are also His rewards. 

Maybe it is a beautiful diamond of patience for not saying that harsh word to a coworker when they made more work for you, or a lovely amethyst of generosity for taking care of the supper dishes without brooding over the fact that he didn't help you again, or it could be the pearl of forbearance when instead of cursing under your breath, you invent a charitable and realistic story about why in the world that person cut you off on the interstate while driving like a maniac (and maybe say a prayer for him, too)...

So often, we leave these jewels on the table and never claim them for our own. We insist on working for free, because we don't do the extra bit of hidden work in our souls that is necessary to make our external work (or our sufferings) a gain for ourselves.

Well that's just silly. So long as we have to work, have to suffer, and get to live, we may as well make the most of it! We get one life after all. Let's make sure we "clock in" and make it count!

"But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal." Matthew 6:20