A Mission Experience

"Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the LORD Jesus Christ, giving thanks to the Father through Him." Colossians 3:17

I don’t know if you have seen the mosaic tile mural that was done on the back wall of the preschool this past week. I hope you have. It’s a wonderful reminder of God’s promises, and it’s quite lovely! Many thanks especially to Lahoma who had the vision and organized this project.

If you, like me, were one of the ones that spent time working at “the wall” as we came to refer to it, then you can attest to what I’ll say about the mural. It was a huge project, and truly a mission experience, right here in Tustin. By the end of the week of work, I saw new friendships forged between people, I saw many hands working together to accomplish something wonderful, I saw the people of God coming together to do something bigger than anything they could do individually, and all the while, praising God (thanks to those who brought speakers to play worship music!) BUT, as I said, it wasn’t until the end that I truly noticed and saw all these blessings. At the beginning, some of us (yes, me, I’ll admit) didn’t know if we could pull it off. It was after all, a huge undertaking. When you are working for a few hours in one small space, putting tiny pieces of broken tile on to a wall, you can’t fully see what you are actually doing in the grand scheme of things. It looks like you’re not even making one bit of difference. But when you take a step back, breathe a little bit, and really examine, you can see what an impact you are indeed having. Even though it may be small, what you’ve accomplished is not insignificant.

And isn’t it that way with our lives? Sometimes we feel overwhelmed, and like we aren’t accomplishing anything, even though we feel the exhaustion that comes with working day in and day out. Maybe you feel as if you’re just sticking tiles to a wall, a seemingly mundane task, over and over again. But…take a step back! Some things we have to go through in life aren’t always rewarding right away, or from our nearsighted perspective. Some things, we won’t understand the “why?!” right away. Some things, we won’t see the point in doing them. These are the times in which we can really test and prove our faith. Get in the trenches, work hard and get a little dirty, if need be. Your hands might get scraped up from the broken shards of a certain situation or relationship. Keep on going. You might have to work together with lots of people, even the ones who might annoy you sometimes. Keep working. God will reward your diligence. Our timing is hardly ever God’s timing. If, like the reference verse says, you are doing what you are doing in the name of the LORD, He will sustain you to do what He has planned for you. You will one day be able to see the fruits of your labor. You will be able to step back, look at what God has done through you and your hard work, and marvel. Don’t miss an opportunity to be blessed or to be a blessing because it might at first seem just like “work”.

With love,
Gabby Botts

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