Scottie Wisdom & Faith: Making work fun

Lighten up! Make your work fun and you will succeed more than ever.

This is just another thing I’m learning from these new puppies we’ve adopted. They are nearly a year old, and they are smarter than me sometimes. I’m more than a Scottie mom. I’m also the primary care person for my husband who is dealing with cancer. I have a busy life with lots of responsibilities. It would be easy to get bogged down. But … These Scottie puppies won’t let me do that.

Everything is a game to them. When I ask them to do anything, they turn it into a game. If I’m wiping off kitchen or bathroom cabinets, the towel I use is a toy and my keeping it from them is the game. It’s the same thing with cleaning dog nose art off of windows. They like their nose art, and they play with the towel I use to remove it.

Working with them outside offers more play opportunities. If I’m sweeping, the broom is the thing to bite. If I’m blowing leaves, the blower is to be attacked as if it is an intruder. What a great life. There is nothing to fear. Everything is a toy and part of the great game of life.

Jesus Christ told us many times to not fear and to be joyful. When we approach life like a young Scottie, our sense of play and joy removes fear.

There is a wonderful, allegedly true, old story about a woman and a donkey. The woman was in the kitchen working when the front door blew open and a large animal ran through the house, into the hallway, ending up in the closet under the staircase.

The startled woman thought the animal was a donkey, for it had left large, blurred, muddy prints on her clean floor. So she ran back to the closet, grabbed a broom in that dark space, and began thrashing the animal, which was backed up into the lowest corner against the wall. As the animal tried to shrink itself into the smallest ball possible, the woman redoubled her beating.

While the woman was lashing and screaming, four men carrying guns and nets ran into the house. They proceeded to pull her out of the closet. As they did they said they were from the circus which was playing in her town. A lion had escaped from the circus, and they had pursued it to her house.

Once a light was switched on in the closet, the woman saw the face of a great lion and passed out on the spot.

She had been completely courageous when she thought the animal was a frightened donkey, but seeing what she had really cornered frightened her into a faint.

The lion was so afraid after its vigorous beating, that it willingly went back to the circus.

What changed? Only her attitude. When she was fearless, she easily overpowered the lion. As soon as fear entered, her legs turned to spaghetti.

Many people do not realize that fear is the opposite of love. A heart filled with love is also filled with courage and joy.

One more quick story. When Adrian Sheffield was a young boy growing up in Austin, Texas, he often watched the burley trashmen empty the heavy rubbish bins into the garbage truck. Lacking a father at home, these men became his heroes. They were strong, hardworking, and something he wanted to become.

Adrian’s single mother brought up her three children to love God and work hard, so when Adrian was ready to earn a living he became a sanitation worker for Texas Disposal Systems.

It is backbreaking work, heaving waste bins around, and sometimes lifting garbage bins that weigh 100 pounds. The workers labor as a team consisting of a driver and a bin wrestler. They maneuver their huge truck, through many neighborhoods, servicing up to 1,200 homes. Work is from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., six days a week.

Soon after starting the job, Adrian realized that he hated it. The romance quickly wore off, and it turned into hard work. But he needed the job, and the paycheck.

Soon Adrian realized that he had a choice. He could be miserable, like some of his coworkers, or he could reevaluate the situation and make things better. He listened to his mother’s voice and God’s influences and chose to make a difference.

He decided to make his work fun. He loved working outside with fresh air and limited supervision. He just needed to add a fun new dimension to it.

He started listening to music as he worked. He found himself dancing to the tunes and kicking up his heels as he worked his route. The music also made him smile.

People began noticing the cheerful trashman in their neighborhoods. Kids rushed out to him, just like he had done as a child watching his heroes. These kids wanted to learn about everything he did. He became friends with kids and adults along his route.

He loved these people and wanted to do more. One day he decided he would dress up in a Batman costume and see what the kids thought. They, and the adults, went crazy over it.

Adrian has now been captured on phone photos and videos in his many added costumes. He is a bundle of love, and he says these people are family to him.

Adrian inspires people. In April 2023, when the Georgetown, Texas, city council decided to recognize him for his outstanding contribution to the city, a large crowd of neighbors from his route came to the meeting to support this joyful man. Adrian was a little choked up over this recognition. He said it was as good as being drafted by the NBA.

Here is a man who was changed by the simple act of choosing love over hate, and joy over depression. Once he made that choice, he motivated all those he touched to choose love in their lives.

Love is not only the answer to every problem, love and its offsprings, courage and joy, is contagious. They are the most powerful forces in the universe.

Let all that you do be done in love. 1 Corinthians 16:14