Worthy of Appreciation

W

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement

 

Worthy of Appreciation

 

I stood at the window as fascinated as any five-year-old truck lover would have been. The crew working to remove the mountain of leaves at our curb moved with the skill and proficiency of an acrobat team. Here, however, the participants were two large payloaders with great big shovels on the front, a dump truck, their drivers, and a couple of men in yellow safety vests manning rakes. The payloader’s drivers circled, scraped and met with their shovels delicately touching to transfer scooped up leaves from one shovel to the other with the finesse worthy of the finest acrobat joining arms in mid-air. The men swiftly swooped in to rake up the remnants and deposit those leaves in the shovels. The payloaders maneuvered with precision to deposit the leaves in the dump truck which rumbled on to position itself at the next neighbor’s pile, ready for the next cycle of the dance.

 

 

Conscientious, skilled, hardworking, these men made a grand contribution to my life. They spared me labor, they saved me time, they made my neighborhood tidy. I certainly could never drive those huge machines with such precision. I take my hat off to their skill. Too late, I thought I should have run out and thanked them or at least given them a thumbs up. But it was unusual that I happened to be home and at a window when they did their good deed for my neighborhood. Usually I arrive home, and the work is already accomplished.

 

 

There are many other people, often unnoticed, who make my life easier, more pleasant and better because of their skills. The sanitation workers who brave the elements and odors to pick up my trash, bakers who arise before light to bake bread. People I do not always witness practicing their skills for my benefit are, nevertheless, contributing to it. How can I show them appreciation? I do have one way. I can pray for those people, often unseen and unacknowledged, who serve our society. Prayer is a means to bless. Our God who hears prayers delights in blessing a job well done. I don’t have to see the blessing arrive. I simple know our good God is pleased with His people pray for encouragement to one another.