" Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant." Robert Louis Stevenson

Here are seven good things about work to think about and celebrate over Labor Day weekend:

1. Work is an expression of our giftedness and an investment in the common good of our community.

2. We are wise to establish and maintain a healthy work-life balance.

3. We honor our Creator by doing all our work with excellence and integrity.

4. Throughout the course of our lives, much, if not most, of our work will be teamwork.

5. Great things are accomplished when people commit to a strategic vision and mindset. Effective work requires focus and determination.

6. We usually find our vocation or our calling as we discover and live out our passion. Frederick Buechner contended, “Your vocation in life is where your greatest joy meets the world’s greatest need.”

7. The effectiveness of our work cannot be measured by how quickly we see results. Sometimes we see the fruit of our labor and sometimes we work believing the next generation will be blessed by the fruit of our labor. 

"If you have a place to live, food to eat, someone to love, and good work to do, then you are among the most blessed people in the world. Eric Hoffer deduced, 'The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.' Work can be frustrating at times and rewarding at other times, but it is a privilege never to be taken for granted."

Thank you to all the workers who give so much of themselves for the benefit of others.  May you keep the Sabbath and experience rest and renewal the Labor Day week-end.

Adapted from an essay by  Barry Howard 
Shared by Liz Sorensen Wessel

Artist: My friend Diane Barrows