Work - President David O. McKay said, “Let us realize that the privilege to work is a gift, that the power to work is a blessing, that love of work is success” How do you instill the value of work in your children? Do they do chores around the house? Do you work together on projects? "Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities." (Family Proclamation, paragraph7)
Because I married the best example of most things good, I have to use Jeremy as an example. Jeremy sort of fell into his career. It was just a job that he took to pass the time until he left for college. In fact his position was more or less not real. He did all kinds of odds and ends type of jobs. Nothing exactly specific...you know the kinds of projects that get shoved in the back corner and ignored. That is what he did. Then when he went to Utah for school he got a job at a local credit union and decided he loved the industry. When we got married and moved back he was able to get a job back at the credit union here. Through turns of events and divine timing he was promoted, again and again. I can tell you it wasn't hard for him to go to work and he enjoyed it. He enjoyed his co-workers, he loved his employer and was passionate about the industry. We recognized that blessing and we were extremely grateful that he had regular business hours, but more importantly that he loved his job.
Today as the market has changed it makes work a little less cheerful, but he continues to be an example of hard work to me and the children. When we got married, I carried too much debt so we stayed in CA where the debt was incurred and the wages were able to pay it off quicker. So it meant Jeremy transferred schools. Eventually it got too hard (or maybe I got too whiny) and he stopped taking classes for a while. In the last two years he has really focused on school.
This is what his day is typically like. Wake up and study from 6:00am to 7:15, then run, come home shower be at work by 8:30. Work a normal day, often times needing to work through lunch, come home at 6:00 eat dinner, play with the kids as much as time allows, put the kids to bed, then study for another hour. Then folds laundry, then studies scriptures, pleasure reads (in all honesty for about 2 minutes before the book flops closed on his nose and startles him awake...side note, this is one of my favorite times of day! He insists he is reading but the man can really fall asleep in -1.25 seconds, it is a gift I tell you. Anyways he reads and his book falls then he looks at me like "What?" Then I giggle and he may smile or try and deny he was sleeping. It happens at least 5 times before he admits to being won over by sleep. I know cheap entertainment but I love it.) He works so hard so we don't have to!
Lucky for us he gets Saturdays off and he dedicated one weekend night to strictly family with no studying and we gear Saturday to mostly family activities.
He does an excellent job of teaching our kids the importance of work, not only his job, but working in his calling, and serving as often as possible. We teach our kids the importance of work by making them help pick up after themselves and each other. We teach them about serving those around them. This summer we are actually growing a garden, so they will really get to learn about working to earth. I can't wait for the rewards of that work.
I am not saying work is easy or that Jeremy is eager to do all these things. He is exhausted, but he keeps on , keeping on. He does it out of pure love.
2 comments:
He's an example to us all, someone I'm glad to have on my side of the fence.
Wonderful tribute to your husband!
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