I got an email on Sunday that was sent to our whole ward (church congregation) about pulling weeds on the Church Farm on Tuesday evening. I think our ward might have this responsibility every week during a certain month of the summer or something like that. I’ve done it a couple of times before, but this year I have been so busy with work that I don’t have enough time to care for my own house and yard properly. So when I got this email that was asking me to go help somewhere else, it was easy for me to think that I am excused from that obligation, given my circumstances.
My excuses are real and valid. I’m not making them up. But I thought that I could go for 1 hour in place of the time I planned to exercise. So I put it in my calendar with an alert.
Tuesday (yesterday) right after work, I forgot that I was going to go. I got a carwash and went to the store. While at the store, the alert came and I had 15 minutes to get there. So, I checked out and drove home to change.
But on my way home, I had to cross the train tracks and everyone around here knows that if a train comes, it might be one of two things – a passenger-commuter train that passes very quickly or a cargo train that passes very slowly. These second types of trains frustrate me because I’m usually in quite a hurry when they pass. As a matter of fact, I’m always in a hurry. So usually I flip around and go another way that has a bridge over the tracks, but this time I was the first person to pull up and it was too late for me to turn around because the red lights came on suddenly, crossbars came down, and cars pulled up behind me before I could make any other decision. So I was stuck there for at least 5 minutes while the slowest and longest train you can imagine passed. The Stake Farm assignment was at 6pm and it was exactly 6:01. I just took out my phone and started reading something while waiting. It was one of those “oh well” moments.
Finally, the train finished passing, and I was on my way. At home, I changed into shorts and a t-shirt, sprayed on some mosquito repellant, fed my cats, went to the bathroom, drank some water, plugged in my earpods, and left. About 6:20pm. I remember the email saying it was the field located south of the POND. I wasn’t sure if there were multiple fields and if this was a different one than I had been to before. I decided to watch for this pond. I went up 2200 West, passed the field I had worked at before, but didn’t see any pond. I checked the email again and couldn’t find any more clues. I turned around and decided it must be at the same field. I also saw in the email that we were supposed to bring our own tools. And I had rushed out so quickly that I forgot my gloves. So, I went home and got a hand shovel and my gloves, and returned to the field.
During this whole time, my thoughts were: Maybe it’s not meant to be that I go help out tonight. I could go next week. I’m way too late. Maybe it’s just from 6-7pm and I’m going to get there so late. But I chose to just keep going anyway. By the time I signed in, it was 6:42pm.
There were a good 20-30 cars parked and I could see the people scattered throughout the field. The times I came before were not social events. I usually just came and worked on my own, listening to music or a podcast on my headphones, and then left. But there was still comfort in being a part of a larger group getting the work done.
Even though it was evening, the sun was still beating down. It was still hot. But I’m a cold body, so it was doable. I went out and found some weeds and started my “cherry-picking” exercise. I was listening to a podcast and it was nice. It was so nice because my mind was quiet. I wasn’t stressed out about what I should be or could be doing during that time. I knew I was in the right place. I knew I was pleasing the Lord and that’s really all that matters to me.
A friend called and the phone call came through on my earpods. I listened to her for a while and didn’t even notice the hard work I was doing. After she hung up, I went back to listening to my podcast and it was nice. The whole thing was just fine. I had planned to help for an hour and I discovered that things didn’t close up at 7pm. I was there until 7:45pm. I had plenty of time to serve and there was plenty for me to do even though I got there late. That was a relief.
And this last thing was the best part and is the reason I’m writing this whole experience down. One of the hardest parts was the heat. After being in the hot sun for a while, it was hard. But somewhere in the middle, some clouds came and covered it, so it cooled down significantly. And when I was leaving, I finally looked up and saw a single big cloud that looked like it was just hanging out in front of the sun, not moving anywhere (see the picture I took). I felt a wave of gratitude, KNOWING this was a tender mercy from God. In the grand scope of things, it was small. But it’s these little things that remind me that he is aware of me (and everyone else in that field) and is going to do things to reduce the intensity of the sacrifice. Not completely take away, but make it manageable.
And I don’t want him to completely take away the need for me to sacrifice because without my part of it, I can’t experience the Joy. I have found that Peace (from his and other people’s voluntary and loving sacrifice) combined with my own voluntary and loving sacrifice (which I do to provide Peace, comfort, meet needs, etc. for them) equals Joy. I can’t experience Joy if people are just giving to me. And neither can I experience it if I am just giving to others. It’s the combination and the balance that results in the best feeling I’ve ever experienced.
This was crazy for me to write this post. It’s 7:51am and I have to run to work now. But I hope this helps someone out there who needs to be reassured that God is with us. He knows what we’re going through. And he is so good to us. He’s going to share the burdens of our responsibilities with us. We’re on his team and he’s on ours.
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