Being a pastor doesn’t require me to do much manual labor. I sit in front of books, computer screens, and people all day. Key word: sit. (That’s why I’ve gained over 30 lbs in the past two years!) Needless to say, I’ve been antsy to do some things with my hands other than turn pages, type, and make unnecessary hand gestures during conversations, as if they actually help make my point. Anyway, today I got that chance. Today was workday.

We were supposed to paint the upstairs balcony, but because, as Michael put it, God wanted to answer the prayers of the farmers, giving them rain, we had to scratch that plan. No worries, our to-do list is longer than the line for Space Mountain.

We split up, each taking a different task. Soon, I was busy installing child-safety latches on the cabinets in the preschool room. Michael O’Sullivan was painting my office door. Katharine Bradley was painting Pastor James’ office door. Charmaine Bradley was Spic ‘N Spaning the elementary classroom (even the lights!). John Bradley was fixing broken lights. Steve McAdams was repairing the podium I preach from. Steve Heimple was making lunch. And Gerson Bonilla was being Papa Bear, taking care of us and getting us what we needed. After a few hours, we enjoyed breakfast for lunch and a little down time, then we went back to it.

By early afternoon everyone but Gerson and I had left after putting in valuable time. The two of us wandered around the church looking at other areas of the building that need attention. That was like going to the doctor. You find out about things you would have been fine not knowing. The to-do list about doubled. But we did tackle one huge issue.

During our walkabout (Crocodile Dundee, anyone?), we went to the large storage room behind the kitchen, looked at each other, and decided to go for it. Four hours later we had totally cleaned out, rearranged, and reorganized the room. Now that’s a good workday!

Thanks to everyone who came out. If you weren’t able to make it, don’t worry, we have more workdays coming in the months ahead. I hope to see you at the next one when we’ll retry the paintin’ party.