Carla has the day off and has been burning in the garden – due to allergies I stay away.  It has been just wet enough that the burn ban has been lifted.  We are limited to just a few weeks in the spring and again in the fall – but if it is too dry, or too windy (happens a lot) then we cannot burn.

She makes small piles so she doesn’t have a large burning pile which can be dangerous.  This year she will be burning the squash in place and not move it elsewhere to a pile, in an attempt to eradicate a bug that virtually sucked the juices out of the squash and made them uneatable.

She has finished the digging of the potatoes.  It froze last night which hits the tomatoes and while still edible they can’t be canned so we will lose a few.  But they were delicious while they lasted.

Hebrews 12:`1-2 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

² Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

These verses have been the foundation of many sermons.  As I read them this morning I thought about all that has occurred in my years of service – and failure – for Christ.

Most of those reading this are retired.  We ‘endured’ years at our craft.  We worked through the difficult times and relished the good times.  But the race in a profession is not about staying with one company – although many do so.

I have hired men and women who had many years in another career only to work with us in law enforcement in one capacity or another.  Their desire was to work in the field, doing a work they found satisfying, until they were of retirement age.

Some came from other departments, most from completely different careers, but all were running a race.  A race that wasn’t determine on who they worked for as much as it was to provide for their families and their futures.

Law Enforcement was chosen for many different reasons – many actually were making more money than they did as a deputy.  Yet, they found their current work unsatisfying.  They wanted to do something for the community and they found being a deputy fulfilled that desire.

Others came for the excitement and adrenalin rush.  A friend of mine after riding a few shifts said, to him it looked like police work was 90% mundane and 10% insanity; meaning that often police work consists of taking reports, patrolling, doing things that are quiet and seemingly without threat – but when called up to act it was headlong into the situation and having your blood pressure pumping, adrenalin flowing and excitement growing as you address the problem – which many times was life threatening.

There are other reasons, of course, but not everyone stayed the course.  There were reasons for them to leave the profession – they weren’t cut out for it in one way or another; the stress on their family was too great; they were injured in some way and couldn’t continue working as an officer and some were fired for different reasons because they didn’t perform as the department expected.

Many started their police career with an eye to working for the 20+ years until retirement – but few do.

It is a demanding job and one that requires a person to sometimes put things on hold – family, other commitments among them – to complete the work.

Right now, my son is investigating a murder – he hasn’t seen his family in several days and it could be weeks before his schedule is such that he can once again be truly a parent and husband.

It takes a toll on the family and on the officer’s health as they put in long hours to catch the suspect.  It takes working the evidence, interviewing witnesses – and sometimes several times - canvasing the area to see if anyone else saw something.

It takes following up every single lead, no matter how small, so they don’t overlook something.  It takes careful writing of reports so that they reflect what was done and can’t be challenged in the court.

It is crucial all of this is done until it is done.  They can’t just drop it and go off on something else until everything is exhausted and they have done all they can in their investigation.

Some murders are easy to solve, others remain unsolved – sometimes for years, sometimes never solved.  But the officer can’t focus on that, all he can do is focus on what needs to be done and do it.

Investigations, like these, are intense and stressful.  The officer wants to get all the evidence he can to convict the suspect; he wants to take the suspect off the street before he hurts anyone else; he wants to show by his investigation that anyone committing this crime is going to be found, arrested and go to prison.

He knows that everything he does is going to go under the microscope of public opinion and then of the court process – he has to do it right.

If he gives up too soon, if he doesn’t do all he can to bring it all together, then justice doesn’t prevail. 

While speed is important, thoroughness and attention to detail is more important.  It is going to take time to do it right and to make sure the case is as air tight as he can make it.

This is part of the race he runs as an officer.

But his career isn’t finished.  He will have more cases, more trials, more things he must do as he works through his profession.

If he quits too soon, his reward, of a pension, will be much smaller and in some instances non-existent – other than being able to say he had been an officer.

Many officers worked for us, the city paid into a fund for their retirement, but if they quit too soon, they didn’t receive any of it.  They started the race, but they didn’t finish it, they did not receive their reward.

I saw many push themselves hard for the first year or two and then laid back and tried to rest on their laurels – while a few were successful, it was very few and most were dismissed before they were able to retire, they didn’t do their job so they were dismissed and didn’t receive their reward.

And, unfortunately, there were some that had committed a crime or malfeasance of some kind and were dismissed – and didn’t receive their retirement as their reward.

Our race in life has to be approached as a marathon, while it may end prematurely if we do not pace ourselves with the understanding that the average life expectancy is in the 70’s, then we burn out and if the finish is death, we make it, but if the finish is eternity with Christ we may not – we need to face all obstacles as He did.

We must face all adversity as He did, we must persevere; it means we must take our time and do it right so that when OUR trial comes before God we can say we did everything we could to make sure our life was secure in Christ.  We followed Him; we obeyed Him and we are now ready for whatever reward God deems for us.

Sometimes the work will be exhaustive, sometimes it will impede on family time, sometimes it will appear that we just can’t get enough detailed work completed – but when we are finished with that task – we are not finished.

We will have a new mission, a new purpose and we cannot give up, our service to God is not a one-time thing, it is a career and we only retire when He calls us home.  What we are expected to do in our later life may not be as physically challenging as it was in our younger years – but we are still working for Him.

If we quit too soon, we may not receive that retirement package He has for us; the most important part is eternal life with Christ.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again