Ran in town to grab a bite for lunch…

Sign on the door said “Closed for Maintenance”.

Sign on the Drive Thru said “Please know before you order that your wait time may be a bit longer than normal. We are short-staffed. But please be patient with us, at least we came to work today!!”

1. Yes, be patient with them! In a world where we are providing way too many hand outs (instead of hand ups for those who truly need it) – eliminating the need for many to work – we are seeing restaurants, shops and other industries struggle to not just find good help, but ANY help. Don’t belittle the person who is actually there, trying to serve you, while also trying to do the job of 3 people.

2. I can’t drive through Hillsboro (or any town really) without seeing MULTIPLE Help Wanted signs. What happened? The boy I tried to encourage in the drive through today said “No one wants to work”. When I was in high school or college you had to hope that you would be the one chosen for the very few open positions in your town – and you better have a good work ethic, or you’d be out the door. When did we become so “entitled”? Yes, we all want to give our children everything they want – but in the process we aren’t giving them what they need. A strong work ethic will give them a sense of hope and purpose and carry them much further than a new I-phone 17 and Designer hand bag or Tennis shoes ever will. (It’s OK to have both – but it turns out much better for all if they have to earn it.)

3. My husband is a licensed therapist. I am a part time Life Coach. But you don’t have to be in the mental health field to see that anxiety, fear and depression are at an all-time high. All you have to do is read your news feed. Is it a coincidence that those things have risen with the number of unemployed? No, it’s not a coincidence. We were DESIGNED by GOD to move – to work – to provide. I will leave my office job super stressed and exhausted. I haven’t done anything physically, but mentally I’m wiped. I don’t feel like going anywhere. But if I suck it up and put on my boots and go to the farm and muck stalls or work cutting brush – manual labor -the stress, the worry, the anxiety is gone. The fog lifts. I’m full of energy and feel great! The same if I spend the day cleaning house. As a therapist or counselor you can watch a person who has been on assistance get a job and just bloom with self confidence and purpose. Why? It EMPOWERS you. It gives you a purpose. It gives you an opportunity to be good at something and be rewarded for it. Again, THE WAY GOD DESIGNED US. God did NOT design us (healthy individuals) to sleep in until noon, lay on the couch and eat bon bons while watching soap operas or playing video games day after day after day. That life style will assuredly affect your mental health.

4. If you are a stay at home mom – you’re working harder than most! And your job is the most important! Be invested – raise them well – teach them manners, respect & how to “earn” things – God bless you.

Don’t take this post out of context – as me bashing the programs providing assistance. There are people out there who physically can’t work or who have fallen on hard times and need a hand up – and I’m all for that! We all need help from time to time. But there also needs to be assistance reform. Massive reform. We need to find a way to make “the system” stop being a generational curse. We need to vote for those who have reformation on their platform or start speaking up for it.

My husband used this analogy in a sermon recently and it was very fitting… The pig loves the farmer – he comes and brings him as much food as he wants every day. Takes care of him. Gives him a place to live – new straw and fresh water. But this same farmer who is taking care of him today – will lead him to slaughter one day soon. Every day the United States becomes less and less the “Land of the Free” and instead the “Land of the Bought” and one day – that won’t fare well for us.

This started as a “be nice to those working” post and then – Squirrel!

Don’t be the one who is rude enough that it pushes those who do get up and go to work to say “I don’t get paid enough for this abuse” and leave their jobs as well. (Then we’ll all be packing our lunches again). Be kind. Be considerate. Raise kids who will work. The end.