Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 100 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

Life is Like Working in a Farm Field

Thank you for joining us for our 7 day a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 100 of our Trek, and yesterday we explored the 10 life lessons that we can learn while hiking.  Today we want to determine why life is like working in a farm field.

During the remainder of September, we will be celebrating achieving the milestone of our 100^th Day on our Wisdom-Trek. Very few podcasts last more than a few episodes, but we realize that as with anything worthwhile in life’s trek, podcasting takes consistent persistence. On October 5^th, we will be having a drawing in which we will be giving away 7 free Wisdom-Trek T-Shirts. There is an entry form on the main Base Camp page of Wisdom-Trek.com, where you can enter once per day throughout the month of September.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. I am creating this podcast on Labor Day in the US, so most of our client work was non-existent today, which gave me an extra day to work on our formal dining room. I finished removing the old varnish from the woodwork and was able to sand the floor. Tomorrow morning, I will finish vacuuming the dust and begin preparing to apply polyurethane to both the woodwork and floors this week. My goal is to have it finished no later than Saturday, prior to heading back to Charlotte on Sunday.

While it does require a lot of effort to renovate the various rooms in The Big House, it does bring a great sense of satisfaction realizing that we are fixing up the house that was built by my great-grandparents to its original condition. In some rooms, we are making it even better. Paula and I feel strongly that this is part of the family legacy that God has entrusted to us.  It is our hope that we will be able to set up a fund to help future family members to maintain the house. It is both time consuming and expensive to maintain but a heritage that we feel is worth the investment. Paula was also able to plant some crocus and Hyacinth flower bulbs down the front walk this morning so we can enjoy them in early spring next year.

It is time, though, to break camp and head out on our Trek for today. As we move slowly up the trail, we come to a clearing overlooking a valley. In the valley are acres of fields containing crops, and we notice the workers stooped over, busily harvesting the crops by hand.

Growing up on a small farm and apple orchard, I am reminded of how life is like working in the field harvesting the crops. We worked many hours harvesting both vegetable crops and picking apples by hand one at a time. Apple harvest was an intense season, requiring a lot of work climbing both the trees and ladders to reach all of the apples. In addition to the physical labor of climbing, we had a picking bag strapped to our front, which when full would hold between 40 and 50 pounds of apples.

As I remember the many years of growing up, I do reflect on how blessed I was to learn the value of hard work and many other lessons and wisdom that I can now apply to each day. This reminds me of a lesson taught by one of my virtual mentors Jim Rohn. His lesson was titled Look Up, Look Around, and then Back to Work. Let’s look at each of these points.

1. Look Up

Whether we are working in a field, like we see the workers in the valley that we overlook on our Trek today, working in an office, digging a ditch, or completing any other task during the day, let us take time to pause and look up. We are to look up to give thanks to God and ask Him to help us through each day. As King David proclaimed in Psalm 121:1-3,

“I look up to the mountains—
does my help come from there?

 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth!

He will not let you stumble;
the one who watches over you will not slumber.”

In 1 Chronicles 16:8 David also said,

“Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.
 Let the whole world know what he has done.”

2. Look Around

Once we look up, next we should look around. The reason to look around is to assess our progress and to see if any other workers in your field need your help. We are all on this Trek of Life together. When others are in need of help, we should be ready and prepared to help them. We never know when we will also need help from someone.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 reminds,

“Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.”

Also in order to get the crop harvested on time or any other work accomplished in a timely manner, we will need many to help as Jesus describes the spiritual harvest to his disciples in John [4:35]-36,

“You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike!”

3. Then Get Back to Work

Whatever our job, occupation, and calling is in life, we should work hard, work with excellence, and be consistent and persistent in all that we do. We never know when our work on this trek of life will be complete.

John 9:4 admonishes, “We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work.”

Hard work brings success and will benefit us tremendously. There are numerous verses in Proverbs that give us the grounded principles for success.

Proverbs 10:4, “Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers get rich.”

Proverbs 12:11, “A hard worker has plenty of food, but a person who chases fantasies has no sense.”

Proverbs 21:5, “Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.”

Today we are reminded that life is like working in a farm field. We should look up, look around, and then get back to work. So, join us tomorrow for another Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy, and we will learn why life is like a clock.

That will finish our podcast for today. If you missed any of our previous podcasts, please check out Wisdom-Trek on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spreaker, YouTube, or Wisdom-Trek.com.

If you enjoy our daily doses of wisdom, I encourage you to take the time to invest yourself.

1. Invest in improving Wisdom-Trek by leaving your name, email address, and a comment on our website, so we can provide you with wisdom and insights that best fit your needs.
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Thank you!

The journal from this podcast can be found at Wisdom-Trek.com, where we also have pictures, tweetable quotes, wisdom nuggets, and free resources.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day. 

As we take this Trek together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy the Journey, and Create a Great Day! See you tomorrow!