Sharpening the blade

Hi All
I am lying snugly tucked up in bed.  It is the middle of the night and I cannot sleep, an old affliction.  It is bitterly cold and I trying to type with as little of me sticking out from underneath the two duvets and the blanket.

I am at my parent's place.  I had to come to Pretoria and came up one night earlier to spend some time with my parents.  Otherwise my dad and I would have crossed paths in the air - him going down to Cape Town tomorrow and back on Friday, and me doing the inverse.

We had a nice home cooked meal of oxtail - just the right thing in this weather.  After dinner my mom wanted to show me a funny e-mail she received.  She could not remember from whom she received it, so we were browsing through a few of her old mails.  Then she came to one of those power point presentations.  You know the ones.  Beautiful pictures, soppy message and a threat at the end that if you do not forward it to 10 people you are not a Christian.  I tend to skip over those.
However, the pictures seemed really stunning, and I decided to read the message.  I would like to share the message.  I cannot give credit to the real author, as I do not know who it was, but is sure he/she will not mind me sharing.

The story is about 2 woodcutters.   And old man and a young man.  One day they decided to have a competition to see who could chop down the most trees in a day.  The young man started fast and furious at a frenetic pace.  The old man started at a steady pace and took a 15 minute break every hour.  At the end of the day they tallied their trees and the old man has won by a mile.  The young man could not understand how that was possible, and approached the old man for an explanation.  The old man told him: "Son, when I took a break every hour for 15 minutes, I used the time to sharpen the blade of my axe".
The story goes on to remind us of the importance to take time to spend with God in our hectic lifestyles - to "sharpen our blades", and I found the message very relevant.

It also reminded me of my old job.  I absolutely loved my work.  At the end the pace was so hectic, and I started working harder and harder, for longer and longer hours.  But I am not sure if I achieved that much.  I became less and less efficient. 
This is a very valuable lesson to everyone that can relate to my work experience and serves as a reminder that we should always take time out to "sharpen our blades".