Today, one of our deacons and I spent the day putting some of the finishing touches on a sound booth we built in our auditorium some month’s ago. The work involved cutting three boards to top off the half wall we built, sanding and installing them, and cutting four more boards of trim to match the other trim in the church. Not very much physical material, but because of the angles we built into the booth, very finicky in the finishing. We spent the morning talking through and cutting the angles of the booth toppers.
My deacon knows more about construction than me, but having had a stroke almost two years ago, he sometimes forgets things. If I don’t understand what he is telling me to do, I make him talk me through it until I get it. He usually is right, but this is the finishing job, and my saw cuts exactly what I tell it to… so I want to be right when I pull the trigger.
After a successful morning, we set out to buy a few needed materials and the trim. The trim in our church is simple 3/4 by 1 1/2 strips of wood, sanded and stained. We purchased some rough red cedar strips for the job, sanded them down, and then went to work cutting angles again. The trim was a little less finicky than the topper, but still, with measuring, cutting, sanding, and then staining, the afternoon was occupied.
The end result is quite pleasing to us. The sound booth looks like part of the building now, like it’s always been there.
As I think about a day of satisying physical labour, I thought of the man that I was working with. I can’t remember how long he has been a Christian, but I was in his kitchen when he surrendered to the Lord and began a long road of growth from a former drug addict to a deacon in our church. I know the Lord isn’t finished with him yet, but he ‘looks like he’s always been here.’ This is the real joy of the ministry.
3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
Regards,
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
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