This week, my team and I had an amazing opportunity to travel to Wellington and do some gardening work for an amazing family. Neil and his wife, Olivia, are a beautiful couple just full of the Holy Spirit and they radiate God’s love and mercy.
Their yard has been needing some work for a while now that they just don’t have the time and resources to do themselves. They tried hiring help but the gardener never showed up.
So six of us Americans and a couple of Kiwis got out our shovels, pickaxes, and chisels and got to work.
We had a great time laughing while pulling giant weed bushes
We chiseled mortar off of old chimney blocks
We carried brush after brush piles down a hill (imagine San Francisco style houses on hills)
We found mouse poop among sheets in a box in the garage
We explored a New Zealand style basement
We jumped on a trampoline
We drank tea/coffee/hot chocolate and ate coconut bread
We discovered what it meant to be a servant to God’s people
What you don’t know is that Neil is a man in his fifties and has been battling Lou Gehrig’s disease for about three years now. He is slowly dying and unable to do the things he used to do. You would never know that though. This man rolls around in his wheelchair telling story after story. He encourages. He smiles. He’s full of joy. Neil is a true testament to how the joy of the Lord is our strength. I left his home that evening fully encouraged.
Then that night we had a party at our place with some of the staff and volunteers here at the camp celebrating the camp’s 1000th like on facebook. We played some music and as I sat on our deck looking at the stars one line kept coming back to me… “You might not get tomorrow”. And it reminded me of how precious life is. That we don’t know God’s timeline for our life so we better make the best of it now.
Love others.Serve One Another.Forgive.Choose Joy.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10
