Dedication

There’s a trend on Cable TV programs—showing the everyday life of people in varying jobs. I’m fascinated at the who, what, and why’s of it all.

Men brave the ocean to catch crabs.

Men are lumberjacks in mountainous terrain while others harvest submerged logs.

Pulling on baited hooks, they hunt alligators in the bayou.

They dig in the frozen Alaskan ground to find gold.

They swim in the bays and oceans Alaskan or South African for gold or diamonds.

Professionals struggle to save lives in the ER.

Dance instructors spend as much time arguing with parents as they do teaching the students.

Parents spend exorbitant money and time to turn their little daughters into baby beauty queens.

People risk their lives in oceans all over the world to save whales.

Researchers wrestle live sharks onto a ship for fifteen minutes of tests, lab specimen collection, surgery, and tagging.

Mose strives to help Amish-reared people feel they are still God’s children and recreates a close-knit community for those who have chosen to leave the order.

Awareness of ecology created some of those occupations; others of these jobs have existed for centuries.

What motivates these people? For some, it’s family. For some, it’s a willingness to give up their life for a whale. Others want money. Others seem to spend a lot of time fighting with others. Vanity rules some while another is motivated by a deep commitment to loving and serving others.

A show on Angola Prison featured an old inmate, Floyd Bones. In his 70s, he met his grandson for the first time—because that grandson is now imprisoned at Angola, too.

Floyd Bones tends the prison’s percheron  horses and hitched them to the prison hearse this week. He spoke of how when the time came for it, he wanted each inmate to “go with dignity.” “I’m in a silent mood. All my mind is on, is bringing the Lord’s children to their restin’ place.”

When our children are born, we dedicate them to the Lord. Our legacy to them isn’t simply the material goods we may leave behind. It’s the lessons we teach—greed, violence, vanity, that life is sacred, that God’s creation is to be respected. Little eyes see far more than we think. It’s no wonder the Bible teaches that blessings and curses extend down through the generation.

 Isn’t it a beautiful miracle that the Holy Spirit calls us to examine our hearts, our values, and our motives? No matter what our job is, we can do it unto the Lord. That kind of dedication is one that will make a difference now, in the next generations, and for eternity.

The crown that comes from being a dedicated child of the Heavenly Father is the only crown that matters--and only because it shows that He is pleased with me.

Now go look in the mirror--not just at yourself, but at the little ones who are watching you.

Cathy