Getting Ready

I have been truly blessed over the last 5 years to be part of many neighborhood projects that required a significant amount of behind the scenes prep. I have had the extreme of experiences. Yes we did our first large painting event with over 300 volunteers that painted 10 houses, did lunch in the park and had the city councilman come and visit our group. I’ve also had business groups partner with us from out of town and had incredible experiences. I also have had a couple of rainy days, yes it does rain at least a few times in 5 years, where we cancelled but with key leaders involved making the decision. I’ve also painted when I shouldn’t have and it rained before we finished.

I am learning that even the best-planned project can still have snags that don’t stop the event from happening but it doesn’t always turn out exactly as you planned. I have had texts or calls at 5am from a key leader, ouch!, saying they can’t make it. Once I work through my anxiety attack everything always fall into place. I can remember running over something on my way back from Starbucks before our trip to Flagstaff which required getting another vehicle. I quickly texted and called and we had another car within 10 minutes. So don’t sweat the big stuff and even the small stuff.

 As I have been sending out last minute e-mails and texts to my ‘team’ I’m always surprised to see how many will step up and say YES! Just got a text back from a mom who will make a large pasta salad for our Saturday Big Project. YES! My mom would always tell me not to put off till tomorrow what I could do today. I’m finding a balance between letting the tyranny of the urgent overwhelm me to learning how to rest in God’s peace while still doing what’s important for today and what can wait till tomorrow, let it wait.

My hope for our group is that through doing many different community service events that everyone will see that these types of things just don’t happen on their own. It requires months of planning, thinking out loud, asking, asking, asking and also trusting God. I have a friend within my church circles who calls me the best community activist type in our denomination. He has pleasantly surprised me by becoming a consistent supporter of these community projects. He has become an inspiration to me to keep doing what we are doing.

It is relatively easy over time to become over confident with doing community development work and forget the real purpose and motivation for what we are all about. I know that the gospel comes to life in many different ways for people from different life experiences. I know that when I blow it or mess up, i.e. lose my temper, forget something or who knows what, can actually be a good thing. I do want to be real and transparent to those that are around me. It is too easy in today’s world for those who ‘have’ to come across as so much better than those who ‘don’t have’. The reminder I need each day is that everything I have is a gift from my Father in Heaven. Also the reason for doing our community work is to help people connect the dots of life with God. It is too easy to boast and think that I’m better than someone else. Ultimately, I could be the person on the street or family whose lights just went out.

As my mom would tell me each day, live life to it’s fullest and you will never be disappointed. The flipside is when you snooze you loose. So get up early and be ready for an awesome day to serve God and love your neighbor!