Saturday, September 11, 2010

Sale Price

"Farmer in dell. Farmer in dell!" sings Joseph, a smile spread across his face.

Singing isn't just an interest for my two boys during the day. Tucked in bed, the night-light aglow and good-night kisses still fresh on his face, Joseph loves to sing himself to sleep. Ezra, too, as much as he can. Mostly, "la-la-la" or "hmm, hmm, hmm" emits from the room, but Joseph throws in random words that he knows.

As adults we do that too. It's always fun to try singing along with a tune and then discover the true lyrics in print. Actually, it's sometimes scary, too, to ascertain the true meaning behind the rhythms we so enjoy. Perhaps that's why I have steered to Christian rock. The messages are uplifting and the words are actually ones I would want my children to sing.

It reminds me of a pair of shoes I bought a month ago. They were on sale, looked great, and felt good. I even had a coupon to take a percentage off the sale price. So I did the sensible thing and bought them! But, when I got home and wore them for longer than the initial try-on, I discovered that the insole on one of the shoes kept creeping up the back of my heel. What seemed to be a fabulous deal really wasn't.

There are so many times when I want the easy way out - the sale price, so to speak. Do I really have to whip egg whites until they stand in high glossy peaks for good angel food cake? Do I really have to exercise to keep in good enough shape to chase my toddler around the house? Do I really have to practice declensions and conjugations to be able to read Latin and Greek? Do I really have to (fill in the blank with something tedious for you) to (fill in the blank for an end result that you love)?

Of course, the answer is always "yes!" In order to live life to the full extent that I want, I need the self-discipline to persevere through what I may not want. I cannot always go for the sale price or the easy way out. What about you? Share your fill-in-the-blanks above. How do you work hard and for whom are you doing it?

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