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On the Back Burner

On the Back Burner

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On the Back Burner--pans on a stoveWhen cooking, we often put pots of food that need little attention on the back burner.

They don’t require as much stirring, mixing, or other work. Those pots may also need less heat.

Likewise, we put ideas or plans on the back burner.

Some plans seem less important than others. Therefore, we:

  • Think less about them
  • Decide to do little or nothing about them until later

A few plans stay on the back burner a long time.

We may leave them there to simmer (slow cook) until the right time. However, we may simply want to avoid them. We are fixing to do them, but not now.

  • Cleaning carpets
  • Working on taxes
  • Pulling weeds

We cannot leave plans undone forever.

  • Food on low heat eventually burns.
  • Plans left undone eventually become a problem (including carpets, taxes, and weeds).

At some point, we must get the ball rolling.

A few plans should never go on the back burner.

“When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it” (Ecclesiastes 5:4 NIV).

Thanks to Carole Fite for the suggestion.

Do you have an expression you want explained or a thought about this one? If so, please comment below.

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Labor of Love

Labor of Love

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Labor of Love--university students around a dinner tableSome work we love. Some work we hate. Much work we do as a labor of love.

A labor of love means a job with no pay or bad pay.

Yet we do the work because we:

  • Want to help someone we love
  • Enjoy it

The job pays us in pleasure rather than money.

Labors of love for me include:

  • Cooking
  • Writing
  • Teaching Sunday school

I have never been paid to cook. Most people would not hire me. I cook because my family, friends, and I get hungry. For years I hated the job. Yet, I learned to like being chief cook and bottle washer. Now, watching people enjoy my meals gives me great pleasure. I want to follow in the footsteps of some of my favorite cooks.

 If I counted the hours I write, my pay would fall far below minimum wage. I occasionally write for no pay, if I believe in an organization’s work. I love writing better than I love eating chocolate. Believe me, that is amazing.

Teaching middle-school girls gives me more joy than receiving a paycheck. Most people do everything they can to avoid that age. Yet, I look forward to time with my girls every Sunday morning. I have known some of them since they were knee high to a grasshopper.

What about you? What are your labors of love? Please comment below.

“We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 1:3 NIV).

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