Meaningful Tasks

Some time ago, we discovered that one of the flex lines from our A/C unit came loose from the floor register which meant we were heating and cooling the crawl space under our house. Zachary and Micah heard that I had a job under the house and were eager to help get it fixed. With their promptings, I got out the flashlights, gathered together all the tools and we made our way into the dark dirty abyss under my house. For me, it was on my belly inching along, barely squeezing between the tight places. For them, it was an adventure, exploring an underground cave.

 We finally came to the place where the flex line had come apart. I was able to reattach the flex line to the register flange but was unable to get to the back side to screw it into place. Zachary wormed his way around to the other side and put in the screw that gave me the peace of mind that I would not have to do this job again. While we were working together to repair this, Zachary asked, “Pappy, could you have done this job without me?” I said Zach, I really don’t think I could; I couldn’t get to the other side of that vent.

Then it hit me, these kids really need to know that we need them. It’s so easy to give them little busy work jobs that do little more than occupy their hands and keep them out of our way (and I understand there are times when that is necessary), but they also need to feel like they are contributing. They too need the satisfaction of being a necessary part of a job well done and a sincere word of thanks for helping.

I wonder how often kids would rather help someone else because all we ever give them are those “no-brainer” jobs for which they receive little or no thanks. If we want our kids to work by our side when they are teens, we might be wise to include them in more than we do; give them more meaningful tasks to tackle, improve their skills, stretch their creativity and encourage them whenever they take the initiative to help out. The ages of 6-11 are valuable years of training; children are eager to learn and very impressionable. God help us to be diligent to equip them now for a lifetime of effective service.