~ Happy Labor Day ~

Happy Labor Day everyone! We all look forward to this day because it means a day off work and school! Of course is also means the last official days of summer so it has kind of a bittersweet meaning. All I really knew about Labor Day was that it was a day off so I looked into it further. This day was founded in the late 1800s to celebrate the American worker and their hard efforts and achievements. Back in the 1800s workers had to work 12-hour days 7 days a week just to earn the basic necessities. Well, here we are in 2011 and it sounds a little familiar doesn’t it? I think most American families are suffering “labor pains” and we should take this day and celebrate it to the fullest. Give God the praise for the abilities he has given us to work hard to support our families. Well, it took Congress 12 years after Labor Day was founded to actually make it a federal holiday and more than a century later, we still celebrate!

Though I have never really given much thought about this day other than being a “day off”, I am grateful to my God for the blessings he has given our family. I thank him for the ability to work, I thank him for my hard working husband and the job he has provided for him, I thank him for the blessing of my job at the preschool, I thank him that with every paycheck we have food on the table and a roof over our heads, I thank him for being our Jehovah-Jireh. He is our PROVIDER!

There are days that we all wish we didn’t have to work. There are days we find ourselves grumbling and complaining that we have to get up early and go in and work all day. I am guilty of that myself. But today, I praise him for these jobs. Matt works so hard and his job takes him out of town many times but I praise God for the opportunities he has given him. I appreciate my hard-working husband so much. He sacrifices a lot to provide for our family but he does it in love and praise to God for his provision for us. I know that as I type this there are many that are looking for jobs. Many that desire that opportunity to work hard for their families and my prayer is that God bless them. That today would be a day to give them hope that God is their help. When we put our hope in worldly things, we get disappointed, but when we put our hope in God, he makes all things new.

Colossians 3:2 “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

Psalm 33:20-22 “We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.”

So today, celebrate your hard work and give thanks to God for his blessings and the beautiful hope we have in him! When you wake up tomorrow to go back to work, give him praise for the opportunities he has given us to provide for our families and be content in him and him alone.

Hebrews 13:5 “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

Have a beautiful day!

Allison