Are You a Slacker or a Stacker?

She examined each piece of firewood that she and her sister had split with an axe. There was little rush but much intention. After assessing the size and shape of the piece, she’d carefully place it in just the right hole in the wood rick to balance out the weight or make it level. If the wood was a bit wet and needed to dry out, she’d stack three pieces headed right and then on top of them three facing the back, leaving about three inches of air space between them. Great Aunt Anna Balli sure knew how to stack wood. It was a work of art really.  Even long after she was gone, her wood rack stood as a testament to setting high standards.
     Some years ago I stacked wood on the back porch with a friend. We worked hard and stacked it from floor to ceiling, but unlike Aunt Anna, we executed our task with much rush and little intention….and the next morning we all woke up to see a fallen wood rack. We had to stack it again.
     Mediocrity has been a growing problem ever since Americans have not had to work so hard to get by and luxuries have come easier. Then in 2020, with the pandemic, it almost became acceptable to do as little work as possible, either in the privacy of work-from-home situations or in public when dedicated employees were hard to find. Now it seems like slackers not only get a free pass but receive a pat on the back just for showing up! Good has become good enough.
     I’ll admit sometimes I’m a slacker too so I’m not going to throw stones if I live in a glass house. Besides, then I’d have to go get the stones and haul them around. And if my experience of filling potholes with river stones is any indication, throwing rocks is a hot sweaty mess, so I won’t. But admitting a problem is the first step in conquering it, so I’ve compiled a list of clues based on personal experience in an effort to help others.
      You might be a slacker if you’ve….Gone to the grocery store in your pajamas without a medical excuse. Loaded up on perfume, deodorant, and dry shampoo instead of taking a shower. Taken store bought food to a pot-luck in one of your own pans. Stayed home from church because of a late Saturday night, or because so-and-so might  be there, or it’s raining. Posted a prayer hands emoji but forgot to talk to God. Known that something needed to be put back in its place but walked past it for two weeks. Planted but not weeded. Cut once but didn’t measure twice. Or lose hay bales in the river crossing because you did a mediocre stacking job and then didn’t secure the tie down straps on the truck load. There are not many things on earth heavier than a wet hay bale!
     This Thanksgiving my heart is full of gratitude for people in my life who don’t settle for mediocre. Mom, who asked for an “unspoken prayer” request every Sunday when we girls were growing up. (We just recently learned those prayers were for us.)  And Dad who worked in the timber industry outside in the WV elements to provide for us and never complained. I’m also thankful for an exceptional sister who keeps me (and really everyone) grounded, a par excellent husband who is generous and organized., kids who stretch their schedules to spend time with their parents,  best friends old and new who pray us through trials and triumphs, brave and smart people who contend for freedom and faith.  And it goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) the most supreme, non-mediocre person of all is GOD, who when all odds were stacked against us, reached down and rescued us. (Colossians 1:13)

---