Avoidance

After bringing their first baby home from the hospital, the wife suggested to her husband that he try his hand at changing diapers. “I’m busy,” he said. “I’ll do the next one.” The next time the baby was wet, she asked if he was ready to learn how to change diapers. He gave her a puzzled look, then said finally, “I didn’t mean the next diaper; I meant the next baby!”

Cute. Can you spell "abdication"?

How do you deal with duties that you do not like? We all know what it is like to have tasks that we would rather avoid in life. Did you know that there is a sanctifying effect in performing a duty that you dislike? Whether it is changing the diaper, disciplining a child, mowing the lawn, or fixing a broken pipe, the personal self sacrifice that a person performs when he chooses to do what is needed regardless of his own discomfort, always brings a blessing from God in that action.

It is not selfish to seek a blessing for an action, as long as that is not all you are seeking. If you make the determination beforehand to do what is needed, it will be easier when the challenge arrives. It will also help you to keep a clear perspective on what you are doing, and enable you to give of yourself more fully.