Diligent in the Details

 

I really thought I had written about this, but I can’t find it, so I’m writing about it today! Just passing along a little life lesson that came to me a few weeks ago.

                Ryan and I had to update our heating and air system here at the house, and the day the company came to do the work, I was out of town. Ryan was home to oversee the project, and I arrived back home about an hour before the guys wrapped up their work and left.

                I sat at my desk in the kitchen and scratched Lexi’s ears while one of the young apprentices tweaked the connections on the thermostat and told me they would be cleaning up to leave soon. It was already evening on a Friday, and I was pretty sure we were all ready to get to our weekend.

                The gentleman disappeared and returned a few moments later. He started unhooking the thermostat. “Looks like one of the wires is too short. We’re going to be here a long time.”

                I tried not to grimace out loud, so to speak. A few minutes later, the lead guy on the project walked in and started looking over the wires on the thermostat. He called over the apprentice and showed him that the wire wasn’t too short. It was just kinked and unable to reach as far as it should.

                With a kind tone, he said to the apprentice, “Straighten that out and we should be good. You have to stay diligent in the details.”

                “Yes, Sir,” the young man said, and he fixed the problem in a few minutes.

                I know nothing about HVAC, but that line took root in my mind. “You have to stay diligent in the details.”

                No matter what I’m doing, no matter how hard, easy, fast, slow, significant or insignificant the detail in front of me seems, I must remain diligent. Every little bit matters, and every connection must be completed.

                Diligent in the details. I want that to be my story.