Work with Your Own Hands

I believe this is the key to the most successful products. They were first made from the work of someone’s own hands.

Careful analysis, observation from start to finish ensures success of the project begun. Which materials work best? Will this weave of fabric work with that one. Do the colors complement each other? Is the design pleasing to the eye? Is the wood chosen strong enough for the build? is it the right density to carve what I’ve planned? Is the paint thick enough or too thin for the picture I want to paint and is the canvas correctly prepared? Am I using a quality butter filled with flavor to enhance my cooking? Are the fruits and vegetables at their peak ripeness for the best taste? Maybe I need to start over again.

All little things which add up to big things – the final product. Did we skimp? Or did our hands tell us we needed to work a bit harder or longer on the lump of clay turning on the wheel? The fabric didn’t hang quite right…the wood was warped and knotted…the paint was low quality and didn’t cover well or was not a rich color…it was margarine, not butter…the fruits were picked too early and never ripened.

Our good hands will tell us about our work if we train them and let them speak for themselves. From the butcher the baker and the candlestick maker, we can learn from working with our own two hands.

We can experience satisfaction from a job well done – one that others will enjoy using and be the better for – having your product.

I think we’re in another creative revolution of sorts. After being held down and back the last four years, people have risen to the occasion and begun to do what they are best at…thinking and making things with their own two hands.

The ideas and products have been phenomenal! We are making, selling, buying what we want again from person to person, small business to small business. All this ensures quality, originality, and good customer service. Our work depends on it.

How do you feel about your product?

There but for the Grace of God – Go I

Mom said this to me frequently in my growing up years, when I was tempted to be critical of someone else.

So easy to get out of focus in life and fault find, blame, criticize…really it probably stems from insecurity, fear, loss of control, feelings of inadequacies on our part (the last one was a big one for me as I grew up). ‘Am I gonna make it?’

If I could just rest in the good plan God had for me…although I didn’t know it fully then…still don’t – but staying confident in who I was made to be and looking out for others instead of myself all the time, life became easier. My mind had less to think/worry about, and I was gonna be OK.

So far it has worked and is still working decades later.

How about you?

Government

Good government begins with self-government.

If we can govern ourselves, we will be eligible to govern (steward) others – beginning with our families, in our churches and communities. People will see we are a person of integrity, with wisdom and good morals. They will come to us with questions and concerns, and we’ll be able to help them or point them to someone who can.

This is how good leaders start. This is where good government begins. From the local. From the ground up. From the family – a small governing body by itself. From the respectful and responsible father to the thoughtful and industrious mother. All the kids get involved; learning to see what can be done and help. They become independent thinkers on the lookout for a good project to begin!

Self-government is one of our highest freedoms, leading to all other freedoms we enjoy and want to have. It is the hardest, yet the most needful in a free society. Great strength under control! That’s the real meaning of meekness.

We are a strong country, a strong people. Let’s lead ourselves through our own self-control to become what we’d like to see in others – set the example for our children, families and youth. .

Don’t let others dictate to you how they think you should be. You dictate through your life, your honesty, your integrity, your faithfulness to your word, your love for family, your willingness to help keep up your part of the world and begin to see the difference.

There are many followers. They need a good leader to point them in the right direction. Point them by your life. Give them hope for a better future.

You (me) be the change  🙂