Just an Ordinary week?

"Offer hospitality to one another without      
 grumbling" 
(1 Peter 4:9 (NIV). 
    
    They arrived this past Saturday afternoon. Seven men from Arizona, drywall experts, who we had contracted to come and tape and mud our new sanctuary.   

Our Church has provided a camper and a fifth wheel on site and enough food to make them want to become Baptists!  

They didn’t get started until Sunday afternoon. As of this writing they have done an incredible job, and most likely will have it finished by this Saturday! 

What a difference a few days make!

  Most of them have a difficult time with English, and I have an incredibly difficult time with Spanish. Yet a language they, we…. all understand is kindness and hospitality. 

Our Church members had brought so much food that the Arizona Seven…had to say No mas…. (No More)!

On Monday night our mens group cooked hamburgers and hot dogs for our guests. After we prayed, I told them this story that one man translated:   
   

“A man came across three masons who were working at chipping chunks of granite from large blocks. The first seemed unhappy at his job, chipping away and frequently looking at his watch. When the man asked what it was that he was doing, the first mason responded, rather curtly, “I’m hammering this stupid rock, and I can’t wait ’til 5 when I can go home.”

"A second mason, seemingly more interested in his work, was hammering diligently and when asked what it was that he was doing, answered, “Well, I’m molding this block of rock so that it can be used with others to construct a wall. It’s not bad work, but I’ll sure be glad when it’s done.”

"A third mason was hammering at his block fervently, taking time to stand back and admire his work. He chipped off small pieces until he was satisfied that it was the best he could do. When he was questioned about his work he stopped, gazed skyward and proudly proclaimed, “I…am building a cathedral!”

“Three men, three different attitudes, all doing the same job.”

I reminded them that what they were doing for us was so more than just an ordinary tapeing and mudding job!   

What they are doing is helping  make beautiful a Church, that is dedicated to helping people find Jesus and in doing so find hope and what life is all about!

 One of our guys then went home and brought them each a Gideon New Testament, in Spanish!

Has this been just an ordinary week at this red brick church on a hill? Hardly…God's at work touching lives, reminding 7 men from Arizona that they were a part of something far bigger than they could have imagined! 

They came to work; God brought them for a larger reason!  How thankful I am to be a part of it all!