Whistle while you work

People amaze me. And sometimes even in a good way!

Our church is relocating this week. Yep, it's busy. There is much to be done. Lots to be thought through. Plans to be made. Boxes to be hefted. Paint to be rolled. Organizing to do.

I have been through situations like this before. The personalities are generally the same. Some dive in, some hold back, some encourage, some find fault. The job gets done and we generally learn more about each other from a week of working side by side than we would in year of light foyer conversation .

What I DO find unusual is when someone surprises me with extreme dedication to a project.

Such an individual is working on this relocation and has been there nearly every time I have shown up at the new space. When I get there, he has already done the job I planned to start! He is gleeful when I think up something new for him to do and changes his plans in order to accommodate the new task. I made a "to do" list today and had to ask him to leave some things undone so that others could have the satisfaction of helping. He grinned sheepishly, understanding that his joyfulness about this project is something to share with other excited folks. (Then he hoisted up a heavy load from the back of my car and carried it inside.)

I hope at some point in this project I will be able to communicate to him what an encouragement his behavior is to me. I don't know his motives and I don't need to. I live in a world where, so much of the time, people are focused on themselves and how life feels to them. Seeking to be served rather than serve.

It is refreshing to be around someone who is getting such a visible reward from the act being available and using his skills in this way. It is clear that he loves these people and is joyfully seeking to serve. There will be little reward for this work, other than my exuberant thanks and the satisfaction of having done it. There will be no awards ceremony for who put in the most work, the best paint job or the strongest back.

Clearly this wise individual realizes that the reward comes from the the joy that blooms in the deepened relationships and the encouragement that is shared between tired people with paint in their hair.