(posted : Wednesday Aug 18, 2010)
This morning, we had a breakfast to honor our volunteer lawn crew. Each staff member (ok, so I had my wife do it) brought some food item in that they had made. As we ate, we had the people go around the room and share their name, where they were originally from (we actually had quite a few Pennsylvanians!) and what they do on the lawn crew. The majority of these men and women are retired.
This morning, we had a breakfast to honor our volunteer lawn crew. Each staff member (ok, so I had my wife do it) brought some food item in that they had made. As we ate, we had the people go around the room and share their name, where they were originally from (we actually had quite a few Pennsylvanians!) and what they do on the lawn crew. The majority of these men and women are retired.
I was humbled to hear what their responses were for what they do: "I pull weeds." "I mow." "I do whatever they tell me to do." That was their entire mentality. There was no jockeying for position. There was no attitude of superiority over each other. As I sit here typing this, I am looking out over the 50 acres that God has blessed us with. Today, it was all edged, trimmed, mowed, weeded. And it looks great!
The attitude that these servants had was, "What can I do to help this team and this church." Our crew saves us literally thousands of dollars each year by volunteering their time. Some of them are here 4 or 5 days a week! It is hot. And humid. And it rains a lot in the summer. Yet here they are making sure that our church grounds look as good as they possibly can. Why? Because they know that everything we do points to the Gospel. First impressions are big.
But let me tell you the rest of the story. Many of them are on the Baptism Committee, which prepares the baptistry every week, every service. Some are on the Counting Committee, which arrives early every Monday morning to count the offerings. Some are deacons. Some are Sunday School teachers. Some are Sunday School directors. Some work in the kitchen on Wednesday nights. Some volunteer in the office. Many of them are soul winners.
Yet it is a rare thing for them to be up on the platform, in front of the masses. They aren't calling for the spotlight on themselves. They aren't Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens. They are servants. They are the real servants of God.
I think we all have a lot to learn from them.
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