Accomplished

The view from my veranda on a clear day

Mondays are my day off.  I often get together with friends or go downtown or go ride roller coasters or sometimes have meetings.

Today I had the day to myself.  I talked to three people and probably said a total of 50 words.  It was lovely!

I spent the morning cleaning my veranda, the one that runs the width of my apartment and is where I hang my laundry, watch the trains go by, and sit for quiet time sometimes.  I scrubbed and scrubbed and may have even gotten a little sun.

As I finished up the last corner and turned to look at the results of my work, I had a thought.  I enjoyed cleaning today.  One of the reasons, besides the fact that I don't have to worry about dropping my clean clothes in the dirt, is I could SEE what I had accomplished.  The results were obvious and fairly quick.

Ministry is very different.  I often don't see what is being accomplished.  What I think should be happening is often not happening, or at least in the time frame I think it should happen.  The results are often very different from what I expected or thought I was working toward.

So, every once in a while it is nice to have a day where I can see what was accomplished.  I feel successful.

Then God sits down with me for dinner and reminds me what true success is.  I will keep having my days of obsessive cleaning, however, I think I will stick with God's idea of success.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your strength, with all your mind.  Love your neighbor as yourself.