Someone's got to do it

Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed … 2 Timothy 2:15
One of my childhood Sunday School teachers, Mrs. Retha Docken, made sure all her students could quote this passage, her favorite. She shared the lesson that she took from it – that there is no job too humble not to do to the best of your ability.

She was an older widow who worked as a housekeeper for a middle aged widowed farmer and also raised his motherless daughter. I don’t know anything about her life before she spent it in someone else’s home, but she obviously had felt some condescension from other women who may have considered her little better than a servant or “hired girl”. But she knew that there was a job for her and she did it with dignity.
I have done a variety of jobs over the years, both paid and unpaid. I have faithfully tried (not always successfully) to follow Mrs. Docken’s example to do them to the best of my ability. Her lesson has given me the strength to finish some difficult jobs and to try to do even menial chores well.
To make this not too noble, someone has to clean the toilets - but you can also enjoy the satisfaction of a job well done.  Maybe this is a lesson that still needs to be shared with young people today.