Do what you can do

     I'm so sorry this is late! Two of the girls at work requested this week off and another one changed her availability so I'm working forty hours there, four hours at my second job, and I have four hours of volunteering. On top of that, I had some news that shook me on Monday, so when I had the opportunity to crash for a bit yesterday, I took it. Finding discipline to do the things you need to do is hard when things are different week to week. This week I'm working forty-eight hours, next week I only work thirteen. I don't want to put everything off to next week but it's hard to prioritize things when I'm hot and tired (have I mentioned how much I detest summer?). Both work and rest are important but they go hand in hand. You can't really have one without the other but finding the balance between them has never been easy for me. This is when I should probably have a backup post for the weeks when I'm going to be late, but obviously that hasn't happened yet. Let's hope I have better luck next week.

    Ministry is a word I never thought to apply to my life. It feels like it doesn't belong to me because I'm not a pastor or on a worship team; I'm not a leader of any sort. With that said, my family has always been active in and passionate about church. We were the family that was always serving and involved. At my old church, I was involved in children's church and on the café team. We would stay late after events and be the ones mopping the floors and resetting. For almost eight years now, we've been volunteering at a food bank and I'm now on staff there. I call that serving, not ministry. And maybe that's what ministry is really about, it was a big part of Jesus' ministry when he was here. It's woven through the gospel accounts and through his teaching. It's an extension of love. You don't serve unless it's out of love, otherwise it isn't service. 

    At the beginning of this year, I moved churches. I tried to get involved with the kids ministry there but there have complications bigger than I think anyone expected. This church is so much bigger than I think I realized, so getting involved as much as I can hasn't been as transparent. The heart of the people and of this church is exactly what I'd been hoping for but that means they don't need me to stay late in case they need an extra hand. With work, I haven't been able to participate in as many outreach events as I would sometimes like to. When I do something, I commit to it as much as I can but it's been hard for me to navigate here. And because I'm not doing those things, it's easy to feel disconnected, uninvolved. Now, I know this isn't completely accurate, I'm trying to participate as much as I can in my young adults group, which I love, and one of the girls there said she would introduce me to someone who works in kids. I want to be apart it, it's just taking longer than I originally hoped it would.

    Ministry is what we do to express or spread our faith. You could probably have an atheist ministry if you wanted to. But this is why how we live matters. I cannot do everything. There are obstacles that are not in my power to remove, questions that I have, and that's okay. There are also things I'm not graced to do. I do not want to be a pastor or a worship leader. I could probably be good at it but I'm not interested in being involved in production. And you know what? I don't have to do those things. In Philippians 2, Paul says we work out our salvation. When we accept Jesus into our hearts, when we give our lives to Him, it's a decision and there's no going back once it's been made. However, that's not the end of it. Jesus' death was not just to save us, it was to bring us into relationship with him and restore us to how it was supposed to be. Until we have a revelation of that, I don't think our ministry really matters.

    Not everyone is called and graced to preach to a crowd, big or small. Not everyone is called and graced to lead worship or be a missionary. There's more to ministry then just what you do. It should show up in your character. Service is an extension of love, so love first. Practice kindness and generosity. Treat the people around you with the same grace that was given to you. I don't know if I've said this before but just do what you can do. Write a little blog that no one really reads. Do your job to the best of your ability. Just because it isn't big or loud doesn't mean it isn't ministry. I talk about seasons a lot, I know, but they're so relevant to life. Maybe you have a new job or you're a new mom. Maybe you've lost your job. I don't know what you're going through, good or bad, but just do what you can do. Look for ways to show the love that's been bestowed on us and let your love of God and who He is overflow into everything you do. Let that be your ministry. Put God first in everything you do. I can't think of anything that can be built overnight. Just because things don't look like what you want them to or what you hoped they would doesn't mean that what you do is unimportant. God created you, you have no choice but to have greatness inside of you. 

    Put one foot in front of the other. Allow your salvation to be worked out. What you do matters, who you are matters. Let God's love be alive in you, let it flow out of you. 

    "So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but no much more in my absense, work out your own salvation in fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and work for His good pleasure." Philippians 2:12

Yours Truly,

Rey