Of Worship and Communion Through the Day

Today was a tough day, but it was also a kind of strangely refreshing day. I am just tired enough for such a statement to make sense to me.......

I have been training a new employee for the last week or so. He has been a bit of a disappointment, to say the least. On the advice of a good friend, I have documented his brief history with us. In his first week, he was late to work twice. He asked to be off half an hour early one day, which of course was a busy day. He showed a disregard for the value of organization (even after being asked not to) by leaving other worker's tools at any manner of locations without permission and he seemed to disappear often and not show up when he was needed.

In the interviewing process, I informed him that he would be working every other Sunday with me. He asked if it would be difficult to get an unscheduled day off. I told him that everybody had emergencies, which we understood, but that if he needed to have a regular work day off, that we required more than one day's notice. I told him that if we were scheduled to deliver a large order that one person could not handle everything without help.

So, yesterday at his quitting time at five p.m., he told me that he had a meeting tomorrow out of town, and that he needed today off. This was to be his first Sunday to work. He and I were to work alone. We had a lot of equipment out and slotted to be returned. (I work in a rental store.) What was I to say? "Sorry, but you will have to miss your "meeting", or "Golly willakers. I told you we needed more than a day's notice for you to be off." I wasn't about to argue or whine to him. I feel that I was plain enough when I interviewed him just over a week ago. I must admit that even at that, I had an ulterior motive.

The boss has had precisely one Sunday (Easter) off since March 1st. The new man taking today off meant that either she could pay someone else eight hours of over-time to work today, or she could work it herself. Since she is not rolling in hundred dollar bills, she opted to work. That cemented the deal. One of the main reasons this guy was hired was so that we could all have every other Sunday off and a day during the week. It is coming up to our busy time of year. That is where the tough part came in.

I did nothing but run today, and I was barely up to the task. I had a trenching machine torn apart in the shop and I was trying to get to it so that it will be repaired to rent throughout the week. That was not to be the case, so I will have to work part of my day off tomorrow. Instead, I flew around the place just trying to keep up. I had well over 600 chairs to deal with today and about 70 tables. This would have been no big deal, but most of the chairs were filthy and I had to wash them between trying to keep all the incoming equipment serviced and loading and unloading customers, giving cogent tutorials while other customers looked at their watches, wondering how long they would have to wait. Several customers unloaded their own equipment when they returned because I could not get to them fast enough. Not good.

I turned on my iPod and listened to Bible study lectures while working (sanity maintenance) and I was actually astonished at how much I was able to accomplish in such a chaotic environment. I managed to get 500 of the chairs washed and put away. I repaired two pieces of equipment and even made some headway on the trencher. The boss always works hard too, and she was up and down all day helping customers while trying to do her bookwork. When we closed up, we were absolutely ready to leave. What then? A quiet night at home? Such was not to be the case. (Laughing here.) I showered, dressed, kissed my wife and left the house in a rush with wet hair.

I serve as an usher at my church on Sunday evenings. Last week, we embarked on third, eight-week round of classes. After worship together, the body has four different classes to choose from. The class in the Sanctuary, (where I serve) is on worship and communion. Sound like a strange thing to study? Not at all really, and it has probably already been one of the best and most meaningful classes I have ever attended at our church. It has so far been simple, and quite moving.

However, in addition to my regular duties, this means that I need to set up for communion. I was dead on my feet by three o'clock today, and it was a pain just to force myself to move around, let alone load and unload things. I began to see this coming on early, so I prayed. I prayed that things would go alright this evening. You know what? They did. They actually went smoother than they did last week when I was off and able to arrive at the church even earlier. The people were so warm. I enjoyed my fellowship with them and with the pastors before and after service, and again, the service was a true blessing.

You know it's funny. I didn't think about it later, but the thirty to forty minutes of running around I do at the church before beginning to greet people is an absolute cakewalk compared to what I usually do at work. Funny how the Lord uses that. I have learned the knack of consolidating my movements and being efficient to maximize the time I use. That can come in handy. Plus, there are always generous people at church who pitch in to help. There is a particularly nice couple who always eyeball me and things when they come in and just walk right up and offer to help. They are also the first to pray with or over me when I need it. I so appreciate that. I wouldn't trade the little bit of service I do there. I enjoy it.

Golly willakers... maybe I should pray about every Sunday evening service, and all the others...ya think?