Labor Day Lazy

Cincinnati, Ohio

It can't be Labor Day yet. Where did the summer go? Since I'm going to be incredibly lazy today I thought I'd share the history of Labor Day at one of my favorite hangouts, History.com Did you know?  "Until Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894, laborers who chose to participate in parades had to forfeit a day's wages?" Americans worked way too hard in those days just to get the basics and that included children going to work too.

Today many of us continue to work hard to make ends meet. We're putting children through college or trying to help them the best we can, we have adult children returning home because they can't find jobs, we have outstanding medical debt because the healthcare system has been broken for a long time, and many have lost their homes and their jobs in these dark economic times. But life has never been easy in my opinion. We labor every day and we frequently labor through the Sabbath. It's my faith in God that makes life bearable and my hope in the scriptures that helps me put one foot in front of the other each day.

I'm a full time social worker employed as a counselor for nursing students and I'm a writer  working under contract;  two jobs. Yet I'm blessed, I love my jobs and they are both careers for a lifetime. We may be working hard but Americans have always worked hard. I encourage you to examine how you labor, how you rest and to energize through the power of rest on the Sabbath for your body, mind, and spirit.

I plan on spending a wonderful day with my family this Labor Day and I'm sure fireworks will be in the picture. This is also a day when I look back over the summer months, wonder how they flew by so quickly and what was an enjoyable memory. This year I think it was traveling to see my extended family in Pennsylvania with my 87 year-old mom in the car with us. We enjoyed our family and our favorite place to eat pizza.

How about you? Have any fun this summer? What's your plans for Labor Day?