Getting your hands dirty......

excited to work with new work boots

this was the side yard before a chicken coop and trees

never to early to teach one how to work

As young boy growing up in the country we had cows and chickens. It was also my job to take care of them and feed them. We lived on a family road and many aunts and uncles along with our family were all together. I remember having large gardens and we all were working together to harvest. I also remember helping my mom and dad with the family business. As a young boy and well into my teens years if I was not in school I was helping out.  I am thankful that my daddy and momma taught me the importance of working hard.  We were always working, whether we were at home or at our beach house in Surf City. When Amy and I got married I wanted to be able to teach our children the importance of working hard. However, being a fireman and working on the side it was hard to show Hunter some of the things that I wanted too. I remember when we moved to Honduras, I told Hunter it was going to be hard work here. At that time he had never really done any hard work. The first time we set out to cut the grass it was waist high and with two machetes. I remember Hunter looking at me saying; "Daddy this is hard work."  Now that we have Josiah and Micah and a house full of children we are striving hard to teach them it is okay to get your hands dirty. We want them to know and understand the importance of working hard. We also want them to see the benefits and the rewards of their hard work. Many times we see people who rely on others to do a job for them. We want these children to know that they can do anything. The Bible says: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:13"  Whenever, I go outside to work it is not long until I have a few shadows behind me. Josiah is close and then a few others are right behind. They love to help and they are learning at the same time. While I am outside some of them are inside learning from Amy. Taylor has learned how to cook so many things. She will surely go off to college well prepared. The other children love to see what she is doing so that they can prepare the same thing when they go home on visiting. We are thankful that we had parents who taught us the importance of getting our hands dirty and working hard. We pray that they will continue with the things that they have learned and teach their children one day.

Elvin working hard cleaning the rows

Mark and Carolina cleaning the rows