As my husband crawled into bed last night, exhausted after several nights of little sleep and hours and hours out in the cold, he said these words to me: “There is one thing about snow removal. It is such a thankless job.”
He went on to talk about his day and the lack of gratitude he gets in the snow removal business. I dealt with my own end of that this past week, where the east has been coated in snow and ice. I am the lucky girl who gets to take the phone calls. And, trust me, people do not call to say how awesome of a job we did. It is always a complaint. Mostly by people who aren’t very kind as they express their frustrations. Now, I will say this, some people are very nice when they call and that helps so much. And I am also thankful that we have an AWESOME crew who does a GREAT job and so the calls are fairly infrequent. But it does remind me of a couple of things —
1. We need to thank someone who does something we take for granted. Someone is working hard, often during the hours you are asleep, so that you can get to work tomorrow or walk safely on the sidewalks leading into the bank or the grocery store. If you see them out working, tell them you appreciate them. But this isn’t just about snow removal. Think about other thankless jobs people do each and every day and then intentionally start thanking those people.
2. We need to do our duty, with or without the praise of men. Sometimes we find ourselves relying on someone saying thank you or good job and when it doesn’t come we get discouraged and want to quit. But Colossians 3:23-24 says And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. Yes! We serve the Lord, not man. Whether we are doing the dishes, plowing snow, or collecting garbage, we are to do it out of a heart of love for our Lord.
And so the long winter continues, but it has not been without its life lessons and good reminders. And while I am thankful for what God is teaching me, I do find myself longing for the sunny summer days. I guess they will come soon enough.
Our newspaper carrier leaves our paper right on the front steps EVERY morning…SO grateful. I’m going to leave him a tip. I love this article and I will continue to pray for Eric
Thank you so much!
Very well put Leslie. It is very frustrating for all of us out there but sometimes you just harbor push and do it. It is great to read something like you wrote and know you are appreciated. Thank you
We definitely appreciate all of you!!
You are so right! I’m married to a man who did a “thankless job” for 35 years as an electric lineman. I am so grateful for the excellent job he did no matter what the circumstances.
As a side benefit, I believe he taught our children a good work ethic, which has been invaluable to them.
An electric lineman is a very thankless job! And yet, how upset we all get if we don’t have electricity. And I agree! It is a great example to our kids when work hard whether we are thanked or not. :)