God designed the first man, Adam, to work to make the Garden of Eden fruitful. Since Adam, people have been thinking up ideas that help the world run smoothly. They still use their hands to do good work.

But the world is broken by sin. Being productive can be downright hard now. An American named Elias Howe learned that when he invented the sewing machine in 1845. In the time it takes to make about 23 stitches by hand, Mr. Howe’s sewing machine made 640 stitches.

Mr. Howe had to fight hard for his idea. No one seemed to be interested in his machine. He had a contest with five seamstresses. His machine sewed five times faster than they did. Still, no one would buy it.

He took a trip to England. When he got home, he found that his machine had grown popular while he was away. But he wasn’t getting the credit. Other people were. Mr. Howe had to go to court before he got the money for his invention.

But look what came from Mr. Howe’s struggle! The sewing machine changed history. People could use it to make clothes, umbrellas, and even tents. Clothes became cheaper to make and to buy. The average person had more to wear than ever before. In the next 30 years, about 575,000 sewing machines were sold every year. Now that’s productivity! And it all started with one very good idea.