When It's All Worth It

Ministry can be discouraging. I imagine it is the same in most jobs.  The things that end up dominating your “to-do list” or clogging your email or voicemail are things that you never intended to spend your time on or be a slave to.  Yet they take (and get) so much from me.
When I dreamed of being a youth pastor, I never dreamed about

• making budgets
• balancing budgets
• praying for money from the sky to save my budget
• meetings
• committees
• mailings and fliers
• buying countless sodas, snacks, and pizzas

But I will say that it is all worth it when ONE youth connects with God in a real way. Whether for the first time or once again. To hear or see them recognize God’s love for them and receive it ….. well, I’ll sit through a hundred committee meetings and plan a hundred budgets for that one moment.
Tonight was one of those moments. And God knows how much I needed that.  It is the life-blood to my ministry.  It is the fuel I need to continue pressing on.  It is what my soul needs to feel at peace and right with the world.
So everything that I have to do that I don’t really want to do? It’s all worth it.  Thank you for reminding me tonight, God.