vendredi 29 août 2008
Packed week
Perhaps it's a good thing that I only have a part-time job at this point because I sure can fill my days up with other activities! In addition to work (hooray, I'm back in ministry again!), I ended up unexpectedly house-sitting and accommodating someone this weekend. It was a lot of responsibility to handle but it was good to do something different for a change. I guess the main reason why this week feels so crammed is because it's staff retreat week. I had a wonderful time yesterday going out of town to the mountains with my co-workers and today, I had the pleasure of canoing and visiting a local attraction that I have not been to for +15 years. I have to admit that my shoulders are completely sore but I have so enjoyed the time in fellowship these past two days.
I've also been spending the last couple of evenings knee-deep (figuratively) cleaning out the basement for my parents. It'll take a while before I'm done but so far, we've been able to donate about eight garbage bags full of items to charity. I cannot express how relieved I am that we are finally going through our stuff and deciding what's important to keep and what's not. It's somewhat appropriate that I'm reading through some of Randy Alcorn's writings again on the relationship between material possessions and faith, which has been convicting as usual. It might be borderline obsessive-compulsive but I am developing such an aversion to clutter now.
The more I read about how we are so materially well-off in North America, the more I feel like I could be doing so much more to contribute my resources to the kingdom of God. It's pretty embarrassing that one of the problems I/we face is that we have too much stuff. I've written before about the wartime lifestyle and it's something that still resonates in me. I want to grow into a generous person who is not bent on pursuing the next item to own. While I definitely enjoy cleaning out and organizing things, I am thrilled that I can do so knowing that other people can use what I don't need and/or that I am reducing the number of things I have to worry about, giving me more time to focus on God and doing His work. I've been learning a lot about what it means to commit all of my time, talent and treasure to the Lord and I pray that I will keep growing in this area so that I may glorify Jesus in all that I do.
"Everything I've kept, I've lost, but all that I've given to God I still possess." - Martin Luther
Libellés : organization, work
