I'm NOT Gonna Hold A Booger Hand!

So did I get your attention with that title? Good then! These last few weeks of being back in the full-time ministry have really been great! They have reminded me of what I am suppose to be doing but also what I have missed. Sadly, the last 16 months working in the secular world, I missed out on a number of things with my family that I had not missed out on before. School lunches with my kids, programs, field trips and awards assemblies were things that had to take a back seat to my job. Now please understand, I enjoy seeing my kids perform, or receive their awards but not the other 200 kids in the school. If I could just get them to be at the front of the line and not the end where alphabetically RACIOPPA falls, it would be a much more enjoyable time. Anyways, one thing that I missed last year because I was working was the end of the year field day. Now all you parents know that this thing we call "FIELD DAY" and all of the field trips to the Science Center, petting zoos and bring a sleeping bag and pajamas to school day to watch a "Classic" are nothing more than a way for schools at the end of the year to meet the state "quota" for the amount of days they are in school. I say let's take the "penalty" from the state and federal government for not having enough days in school and start Summer Vacation early...but that's just me!

Back to Field Day. Starting early that mornng, I went around from event to event to watch my son compete. Since it has been a while since I had been at a Field Day, when did clothes pin drop in a jar become an officially sanctioned Field Day event? Sounds to me like Field Day has become Sissyfied, if that is a word? As we went from event to event, I saw his excitement seem to build as the day went on until we reached the jump rope event. My son went from being this excited young boy to a disgusted, I wanna go home kind of kid. I asked him what was wrong? "You're good at jump rope", I told him. I know he said, but by now, he was an empty shell of a boy that he once was just minutes prior. My curiosity got to me to where I asked him what the problem was. As he sat disgusted on the ground, he then proceeded to tell me. It seems that when he got to the jump rope event, he was told that he would partner up with another classmate. While one would jump, the other would count and then they would switch. Then they would take the total number of both students and add them, thus coming up with a winner. As he sat there waiting on his partner to start jumping so he could be counting, I said is the problem that your partner is a girl? He said no, the problem is that she picks her boogers and I don't wanna hold the jump rope handle after her dirty, booger hands have messed it all up!

What had happened to my son on Field Day is exactly what happens to us as Christians. He was so excited about the day and what it had to bring that he let someone elses "BOOGERS" steal his joy. The ministry is tough at times. Loving on people that quite frankly aren't very loveable can overwhelm us to the point where it robs us of our joy! Nehemiah 8:10 says "Do not grieve or worry, for the JOY of the Lord is your strength". My son was so focused on someone else's faults that he not only lost his JOY but he took his eyes of the prize or ribbon he was trying to win. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:24 that we are to run this race so that we can win the prize. Yep sometimes we have to get dirty. Sometimes we have to grab hold of someone elses Booger Hands if ultimately we want to win them them to Jesus and see them win the ultimate prize!

See You at The River...John