Don't be a slacker!

Jun 4

Written by: CampUs4
6/4/2009 11:12 AM

“Don’t be a Slacker”

by Lendy Bartlett

One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys. (Proverbs18:9)

Until the age of eleven I grew up in what is unfortunately becoming a common environment in America, a broken home. When I was eleven my mother met a Chinese man in Amarillo, Texas. He owned two businesses, one a private swimming pool and the other a traditional martial arts school. Tim, the owner, became my first mentor. I worked for him in both of these businesses. In the fall, winter and spring I would learn judo and eventually learn how to teach it, and in the summer I would work at the pool, eventually learning how to manage it.

Tim Joe’s most often spoken words to me were, “You have the gross motor skills, but you don’t have the fine.” What that meant was: I was slack in my work when it came to paying attention to the critical details of my job. One night this cost him. Every night in the summer we had to run the water up for the pump to be able to function all night without drying out. The pump was water cooled and the evaporation level would take it down below the skimmer buckets and create an air pocket if there was not enough water to circulate. You might be thinking that I forgot to run the water up and the pump ran dry. No, I actually did the very opposite! I left the water running for six hours longer than it needed to run. The water was running out of the pool onto the main street. A friend of Tim’s called him and let him know that he was flooding Western Street!

“One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.” In this case the only thing I destroyed was the monthly water bill. However, it is true that when we become forgetful and lazy (which many times forgetfulness flows from sluggish behavior) we cause destruction in the lives of those around us. It never pays to do a job half way and many times causes turmoil, and Solomon would even say destruction. This destruction can spread to the lives of others, but most often it tears down the individual who practices negligence in his or her work.

College is a time of testing this particular area of our character. Will we be diligent, thorough and disciplined in our work or will we be careless and negligent? My prayer for the college students that I mentor and relate to here at Ole Miss is that they will see their education as an opportunity to grow a good healthy work ethic. My prayer is that their studies will not be an exercise in futility. While it is true that drugs and alcohol are surely a reason why so many students drop out, it is also true that “slackers” as the wise teacher of Proverbs might put it, contribute to the destruction of many college careers as well. Work hard and don’t be a brother to destruction because of incomplete work. Apply yourself now and you will be blessed!

Lendy and his wife Meagan have two children, McKay and Sam. They live in Oxford, MS where Lendy is a campus ministry apprentice with Ole Miss and a student at Harding Graduate School.

Don't tell him that we told you he does a pretty good Elvis impersonation.

Trackback Print

Location: Blogs

Campus Crosswalk Web Journal

Tags:

4 comments so far...

Re: Don't be a slacker!

Love your article, Lendy. Hope you will be in Atlanta so we can catch up!

By Jason Locke on 6/24/2009 7:21 PM

Re: Don't be a slacker!

Jason,

See you there!!

By Lendy Bartlett on 7/2/2009 4:28 PM

Re: Don't be a slacker!

Lendy,
Great article!! That diligence in study is needed even after we get out of school, isn't it?! Diligence is a lifelong discipline. Good job. wb

By Warren Baldwin on 7/2/2009 6:36 PM

Re: Don't be a slacker!

Great article Lendy! I have left the water running too long in our pool too. I can relate!

By JanTrejo on 7/8/2009 3:52 PM

Your name:
Title:
Comment:

Security Code Enter the code shown above in the box below
Add Comment Cancel


	Previous Articles