Productivity

                What have you been doing this week? I mean it. Not how, but what have you been doing this week?

            Sometimes I merely settle for the way things are. Do you? Then there are times, like lately, when I’ve looked around and realized the condition of things. I’ve let myself be lulled into complacency, given in to ignorance about how to solve a problem, or adopted the convenient ostrich technique of putting my head in the sand. Whatever the reason, there are some things around the Turner household that needed and still need some tending.

            I’ve started small. The drip pans on my stove were shameful. I thought replacements were too expensive until I wandered around Wal-Mart and found some that were very affordable. Problem solved. I sent two nails in a chair rail and filled them. Next up? A manageable paint job. And boy, was I tired of those awful looking switch plates in the kitchen. It was a four-dollar purchase to replace them. These minor upkeep projects have cost me less than $25. The cost is significant, but what has been more important to me this week in making these repairs is how they connect to what I’ve gotten stuck on this week.

            Last Saturday I read though Proverbs 31, a passage I’ve read so many times. The difference this time was that I read it in The Message.  Here’s the verse that stood out: She keeps her eye on everyone in her household and keeps them all busy and productive.

            It was the word productive that stopped me. This woman urged her family to do worthwhile things, and that’s how she lived as well—making, buying, selling, and providing for her household. She makes me want to look around my household and see what needs to be maintained, tossed out, refurbished, replaced, cleaned.  Occasionally I have a tendency to think those endeavors are secondary to Kingdom work. This week I’ve reconsidered that idea as I’ve replaced and repaired.

            There is a satisfaction in doing those kinds of things because they are part of what God created us to do. I anticipate singing songs of praise in Heaven, but to do that all the time, quite frankly, sounds dull. With good reason, I think. There are so many ways to praise and serve God, and I think Heaven will be full of productive things to do because God has created people to be doers. Our culture seeks pleasure. If we aren’t working at the job, we want to be entertained. When we adopt that mindset, we deprive ourselves of some deepest satisfaction offered to mankind.

 So I really believe God smiled as I spruced up and solved some of the small problems around the household. I’m going to keep at it and open my eyes to other things we need to do. Maybe I’ll see you around the hardware store, too.