Time To Work and Time To Play

Nothing that we desire of any value comes without a great deal work. I've learned from my father not to trust anything that didn't take a good deal of blood, sweat, and tears to accomplish. To that end, the youth group at our church is traveling to Orlando to attend Night of Joy. It's when several Christian Rock bands gather together and thousands of young teenagers and young at heart adults invade MGM studios for a night of praise, worship, and fun.

The only issue? Getting there. With twelve kids and a handful of chaperones we needed a vehicle that would carry all of us there and back safely.

The solution came in a 16 passenger van owned by a couple who is actively involved in the church. The catch? We have to take the seat out of storage and install it back in the van which I can tell you takes longer than writing this sentence. Between the Florida heat and the dust it took plenty of sweat to get this transportation ready for our journey tomorrow.

The lesson of the day? Nothing comes without sincere and concerted effort. Ministries, community service, and the yes the Kingdom of Heaven require more than just talking about how we are accomplish our goals in meeting after meeting. It requires sincere Christian people who are willing to give their time, their energy, and their sweat to do the little things that make our efforts to serve God possible.

As an aspiring priest this experience also taught me a great deal of the kind of work a priest does. My mentor and spiritual director once told me that being the head priest at a parish often means picking up the slack that no one else has attended to, even if that means pushing a lawnmower in the middle of day with a collar on! Truly, words to take to heart when considering what it means to serve God.