On time.
No waste.
High standards.
With joy!
To most people, these four phrases wouldn't mean much, other than what is taken at face value. To myself plus the six others on my team, these phrases hold a whole new meaning. While we were in Ukraine, we had the privilege of sitting in on a farming seminar that taught a method of growing corn in a very effective way, and would help benefit the people in the community.
Now personally, where I call “home,” there isn't much I could do to plant a 6 meter by 6 meter plot of corn in rock hard clay soil, or in a backyard full of gravel that masquerades as landscaping. And while the seminar was six hours long, and went over basic principles of farming as well as detailed descriptions of how to plant and grow the corn most effectively, I wasn't sure what I would personally gain out of this seminar, as did many of my team mates.
Let me tell you though, some things stuck.
Some things took root.
And some things began to grow in our own lives.
Namely, those four principles.
On time.
No waste.
High standards.
With joy!
While we joked about it after the seminar, reminding each other to do things to a “high standard,” the truth and principle in it at the core began to settle inside of us. Those four principles, while they were applied to farming (and aptly so) for that seminar, found their way to our own lives, and took root at applying themselves there.
I mean really, these are principles for our lives. On time, whether that is being on time, doing things on time, saying a word when we need to in a moment, being on time is a good principle to stand on.
No waste. Also a good principle to stand on, an encouragement to be resourceful and be the best steward that you can be with what God has blessed you with. Because really, none of this is our own. We are stewards, and we should wisely act in accordance to that.
High standards. This is the one that has gotten me the most this month in Romania. Having a high standard for the work, and anything, that I do. Doing it all for the name and glory of Christ, and doing it the absolute best that I can, so that He gets the most praise and glory to His name for it. Not for me, but for Him. Whether that is washing my thousandth tile square, sweeping the spiral staircase for the third time, washing endless sheets and hanging them out to dry, or pulling up weeds, having a high standard is worth it. Because we are called to do everything in the name of the Lord, and isn't His name worth far more than even our highest standard?
And finally, with joy. Because really, what is life with no joy? Why would you want to live with anything other than joy? Yes, there are serious moments in life. There is a time to laugh, a time to cry. A time for everything, as we find over and over in Ecclesiastes. But the deep, everlasting joy of Christ rests in you, and in me. Why not let that settle into the very core of who we are and pour that out into everything that we do? That's real beauty. Finding joy in the simplest things, knowing that for that moment, this is what Christ has called us to do, so we might as well do it with joy and bring glory and honor to His name.
So now, I pass these four principles on to you to mull over. Think them over for yourself and how you can apply them to your own life.
On time. No waste. High standards. With joy!
