Life lessons from a cornfield

From The Pastor’s Pen – By Brian Horrobin

For the second summer now my oldest son joined the ranks of those who signed up to do one of the most dreaded jobs around: corn detasseling.

Each morning the alarm clock went off early bringing to stark realization that another long, hot day in the fields lay ahead.

If Nick was disciplined, which he usually was, he would prepare his lunch the night before and hit the sack early in order to get a good rest.

Most evenings he was fighting sleep anyway due to the hours spent in the draining rays of the summer sun.

As I dropped him off each day, along with a friend who met us at the house, I saw the long faces of those waiting for the bus to pick them up and take them to their first field.

No doubt about it, this group wanted to be anywhere but where they were, and their long faces were a clear indication.

But for Nick, this was a job and at the end of the summer the prize would await, that of a decent pay cheque.

To his credit he did not really complain a lot.

He just got ready, headed out the door, and did what he had to do.

There is something valuable in the discipline of routine.

The late boxer, Muhammed Ali, always declared that he hated every minute of training, but hung in there so that he could later bask in the limelight of being a champion.

That may sound impressive, but this great athlete was missing a secret ingredient that would have helped him appreciate his training a lot more than he did.

It’s called attitude.

My job as a busboy in the 1980’s wasn’t always glamourous, but my dad reminded me that it would all go better if I was thankful for my job as I went about cleaning up other peoples’ dinner messes.

If you are in a job that you dislike maybe there is a lesson here for you today.

Have an attitude shift and let God build your character.

It will be worth it in the end.

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