After many hours in the heat this weekend, I stood back and looked at my yard with such pride and satisfaction. There is nothing like seeing the results of all my hard labor. I alternated between the weed eater, lawn mower and tractor until I was finally too exhausted to go anymore. I was worn out and tired but the fruit of my efforts was absolutely worth the end result.

I had another moment this weekend where I was eating lunch in a local restaurant. This tall, young man came up to me and asked, “Are you Mrs. Adams?” Immediately I recognized his boyish face hidden beneath his manly frame. He was a student from my first fourth grade class at MCCS and instantly I went back to that year. I remembered his struggles with division and his funny personality. I remembered my own struggles as a first year teacher with 30 fourth graders in a room with no windows. There were days I wanted to quit. There were also days I wondered if I was making any difference at all.

As I talked with my former student, he shared that he had a job in Tallahassee, working with kids. I smiled from the inside out. We hugged and as we said our goodbyes, I stood back and looked at my former student with such pride and satisfaction. There is nothing like seeing the results of labor from long ago and knowing that it was all worth it. Every lesson plan. Every tear. Every moment I questioned myself. It was all worth it.

It’s important to step back and look at the big picture sometimes. We may have to mow every weekend in order to stay ahead of the grass, and we may have to put in way more hours than we ever imagined, but when we see the finished product, then we can see that it was always worth it! Don’t grow weary in doing good. It may be a long time before we see any of the fruit, but if it’s something you are passionate about and feel called to do, do it with all that you have inside of you. The days will come when you can step back, see the end results, and you will be able to smile from the inside out and say, “It was always worth it.”