True Happiness

Well, we have been home for a week now and we are almost back in our “normal” routine. The trip was amazing and full of blessings; but by the end of the week everyone was exhausted and ready to be home. I am so glad we were able to take the whole family this year. It is an experience none of us will soon forget! It’s true. . . There is a place for EVERYONE to serve on a mission trip.

I plan to share many stories and more pictures from our trip over the next several days, but for now I want to share a conversation I had with Garrett on Wednesday, midway through our week of service. . . .

Everyone had been working very hard. It was hot (not as bad as last year—definitely an answered prayer!!) and the boys (Garrett, Timmy and Jeremy) had been assigned a tedious task. They were to paint the fence that lines the parking lot of the church. James had pressure washed it, and was there to help and provide adult supervision.

Now, these boys had been living together (with Rob) at the church since Saturday night. They all got along great and had found some pretty creative ways to have fun during free time. But when it was time to get a job done, they went right to it!

Of course, there were breaks. Water breaks. Bathroom breaks. Joke telling breaks. Goof-off breaks. But the job was getting done. About midway down the fence, Garrett decided to take an “extended” break. He walked around and talked; trying to blend in and not be noticed. But, Dad noticed.

Rob and Garrett had one of those nice father-son conversations. You know, only one person talking. The other looks at the ground and shrugs their shoulders a lot. In the end both were frustrated and neither was focused on the task they were trying to accomplish.

Now I don’t claim to have all the answers, not by far! But I knew Garrett needed some help getting back on track. So, I took him over to the grass and tried to get him talking. We talked about how hot it was and how tired his little arms were. He mentioned the length of the fence and that the job would “never get finished!” He was ready to throw in the towel (or paint brush) and call it quits. So I started talking about the church we were there to help. I tried to explain how much all of our work means to the people and how God smiles when he sees us giving of ourselves to help others. We looked around at the fence and the windows that Rob was scraping, caulking and painting. We talked about all the cleaning everyone had done inside the church and all the work that was going on at the parsonage. Suddenly it was like something lit up in Garrett’s face. His excitement returned and he smiled as he talked about all that had been accomplished already.

As I was silently thanking God for giving me the words to say to my son and showing him the purpose of his hard work Garrett interrupted my thoughts. He was trying to express his understanding of what it means to help others, but what warmed my soul was the way he ended his explanation. He said, “Mom. I have been working really hard and I am tired. But I know I am helping someone else. . . and maybe more people will want to come to this church because it looks nice. I am working hard for God. . . and it makes my heart happy.”

As I walked away with tears filling my eyes, Garrett went back to painting with the other boys.