bricks

A few weeks ago they started clearing a few empty lots around the corner from my house. They cut down some trees old enough to have climbed quite high into the sky opening up the street to much more sunlight. They filled in several truckloads of dirt and rolled it smoother than before. On one lot there was one little old brick house which has been empty the majority of the time I've been living here.  I watched over a period of several days as a few guys meticulously took the house apart brick by brick chipping off the concrete and saving the bricks, stacking them to be used again.

I'm impressed. And it makes me think of how I do things. Do I do things just to get them done? If the goal was to clear that land, I could think of much faster and efficient ways to get that little house out of there, but maybe that's not the point for them. Maybe they're not in that much of a hurry. Maybe they know the secret of taking your time and not rushing through everything. Maybe I have many things I could learn from them.
 
I feel challenged this year to do things better. To really invest in the things I am part of. I'd really like to do less better than do a lot poorly or half-heartedly. I can do many things well, but I want to do what I do in such a way that God is really honored by it - and if that means slowing down and focusing on less, well, maybe that's not such a bad thing.