Page 122 found me at work at the usual early hour that I’ve become accustomed to in order to have the building ready for the start of the school day.  I had a few minor maintenance issues to take care of in addition to the morning cleaning, but once the building was ready for the day I set my mind to working on an online registration process for our summer Vacation Bible School.  As I worked on that, I also had my Bible software open to the books of Samuel as he is the next character that I will focus on in my “Living As the Lord’s Servant” sermon series.  I’m not exactly what I would call a “multi-tasker”, but I have learned to have multiple tasks in progress that I take turns working on so when one task feels like a dead-end, I can switch to something different until I can look at the original task with a fresh view.  

There was a point mid-morning when my mind needed a break from both of the current tasks, so I headed out for a walk in the woods to see how much work the trails need.  There is a variety of old junk scattered through the woods from the  years prior to it becoming church property so I’m accustomed to seeing old car hoods or rusted parts peeking up through the blanket of leaves covering the ground.  Someone had even collected the parts of an old rusted out pedestal sink and set it up in the middle of one of the trails.  What I didn’t expect to find was a rather new folding chair set up in the middle of the woods as well.  With children in the building and on the playground, we try to keep unaccounted for people off the property during the day and it is always remarkable to me how belligerent some get when they are asked to not be on the property during the school day.  I guess someone enjoys spending time in the woods and felt that having their own chair would add to their comfort.

Today’s photo is of a May Apple blossom taken during a morning of light rain.  These blossoms are easy to miss as they are found along the plant stem under the canopy of the leafy top of the plant.  Because they are not readily visible, their beauty is often overlooked and goes unnoticed in favor of the more splashy blossoms of early spring.  People are like that too.  Some people have a personality and lifestyle that almost demands that everyone takes notice of them and everything they add to an environment.  Others have at least as much to offer but because their ability and gifting is often expressed behind the scenes and in less noticeable ways, it is easy for them to be ignored and forgotten.  God’s desire, and design, is that every part of the body of Christ that He has created would be given a chance to do its part and to shine with the beauty God put within them.

After my walk I returned to the office where I continued my work tweaking the online registration work and refreshing my mind with the life of Samuel.  By mid-afternoon, it was time to press pause on the work projects so I could get some lunch and go home for the day.  I find it difficult for me to pause projects and return to them another day, but I find that doing so is a benefit to my life outside of the office and work environment.  At home, I played some games and relaxed until it was time for dinner.  Writing today’s page has been my after-dinner task and once finished I will call it a day and get some sleep so I can be up early for another day of work tomorrow.

As I reflect on the day, here are some thoughts/lessons that stand out to me:

• Small tasks take less time out of a busy schedule than allowing them to become big tasks as you wait for a less busy time.
• It can be more productive to work on something different for a time than to sit in a mental dead end.
• There are times my mind simply needs refreshed and spending time with God outdoors is one of the most effective ways to make that happen for me.
• When we view our actions as being small, it is easy to not see the results of many small actions until they add up to something we never expected.
• Few places, like our woods, become cluttered with trash overnight.  Most often it happens a piece at a time and few think that one piece will make that much difference.
• Our minds rarely become cluttered with trash overnight either.  We usually allow one piece at a time to linger because we don’t think the one piece will make that much difference.  
• God’s work is beautiful in nature and in people.  Some of that beauty is obvious and hard to miss and some of it is subtle and easily overlooked — both have purpose and incredible value to God just as they are created.