“The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at a time.”
~ Mozart
When we were building our home, my husband took on the task of staining the upstairs floor. No small task.
The floor measured approximately 800 sq. ft.
Each board had to be stained.
Twice.
By hand.
With a 4” brush.
While on his hands and knees.
It’s the kind of job that makes me want to enter a witness protection program.
The work took multiple days to finish. Probably because I was feeling a little guilty for not helping, or even offering to, I would regularly wander upstairs with water, or coffee, or a beer. How are you ever going to get this all done? I wondered aloud. He thought for a moment. Just one board at a time.
That is called being faithful to the work.
The work was to stain the floor. The floor would become the solid foundation upon which we would live. He wasn’t all wrapped around the axle about how long it was going to take. Or how hard it was. Or how tedious it was. He was simply faithful to the work.
One brush stroke at a time. One board at a time
Dip the brush into the stain.
Brush it onto the board.
Repeat.
Until one day there was a beautiful, rustic wood floor upon which our life continues to unfold. And it is there because someone was faithful to the work of staining one board at a time.
Let’s be faithful to our work. All of it. Not get all wrapped around the axle about how long it is going to take. Or how hard it is. Or how tedious it can sometimes feel. Simply be faithful to the work that is ours to do, whatever that work may be.
We are all meant to contribute, in our own unique ways, to the solid foundation upon which we all live. Which is exactly what can happen when we are each faithful to the work that is ours to do.
Just take it one board at a time.
