Reliable people, (Is their anyone there?)

I hope everyone had a very enjoyable weekend.  Yesterday was great; our Sunday School class had fifteen people for the second week in a row.  That’s pretty awesome seeing how we were averaging around six people less than a year ago.  God is truly working in our church and in each of our lives.  Our church is growing quickly and more importantly by new Christians.  We have probably had double maybe triple the number of baptisms since September of 2007 than in the 2-1/2 years prior.  It’s very exciting.

Unfortunately, having a great weekend doesn’t alleviate the problems or issues that are occurring my life.  It’s definitely a respite from the issues but not an answer.  One of my daily routines while trudging through traffic to get to work, is to call my mom as she is traveling to her place of employment.  As I sat there and held the phone about six inches away from my ear and made a uh-huh noise every so often to sound interested in the Girl Scout camping trip she took this weekend, I caught a faint murmuring about some of the parents and helpers being unreliable.  I thought to myself, how crazy is that.  Tiffany and I had just been discussing this issue over the past week or so.

We have been pondering why it is so hard for some people to actually take time out of their day to do what they say or step up and commit to something.  I’m not saying that people don’t forget or slip up now and then.  I am talking about a constant feeling of “I’ll let somebody else handle that”.  The attitude of “I’ll show up to the party but don’t ask me to help”.  As I grow older, I can see it more and more in people.  I hear about the good ol’ days and how people were so willing to help no matter the cost or sacrifice they had to make.  They would rather give up their last dollar than spend it on themselves or their family.  They knew they could live another day without that dollar.  But now it seems more and more that people are to caught up in themselves to care.  “If I just sit here and keep quiet no one will notice.”  That is not what we are called to do.  We are called to help and serve others.

Time to break out your bibles.  Read Mark 12:41-44.  This is story of the widows offering.  Jesus said it himself.

“I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

It’s not all about money.  It’s about doing what is right.

I don’t want everyone thinking that I am only referring to happenings at church.  This is prominent throughout every area of my life.  I can take every aspect of my life, except one, and point out how people are just not reliable.  Let’s start with baseball.  I coach my son’s baseball team.  Am I the greatest coach? Probably not.  However, I believe that I should put 100% behind all I do in regards to it.  I plan practices, Tiffany types up flyers explaining about numerous goings on during the season.  We put all of this time and effort into it and then people feel they only need to show up for games.  Why take the time to show up for practice?  Unreliablity or just plain laziness.

It’s those types of things that just drive me bonkers.  I really enjoy the many hats that I wear.  I really enjoy teaching Sunday School.  I really enjoy leading an R.A.’s group.  I really enjoy coaching baseball.  I really enjoy being a deacon.  I really enjoy being on a church committee.  All of these I truly enjoy even though it causes me to be away from my family sometime.  I feel I am making a difference for them and many other people that can help them in the long run.  Many people see the end result of these areas of my life but none see the hard work that is put into it.  Take Sunday School for example.  I use every lunch hour during the week, that’s 5 days a week, plus a few hours on Saturday night just to teach a lesson for about 30 – 45 minutes.  After sacrificing all of that time and effort, if Tiffany or I don’t plan anything extra, nothing gets done.  There would be no class lunches, no game nights, no gatherings.  Not to say people aren’t willing to sacrifice their homes, time or money after that but getting to that point is hard.  It would truly make my day if someone would come to me and volunteer to lead something.  If someone who would say, “Keith, if you don’t mind.  I would like to be in charge of……” 

It’s the same in Tiffany’s life too.  She is always planning a baby shower or something for a friend.  A group of girls will volunteer to help and then they will do either the bare minimum or less.  Tiffany is the one aspect that I was talking about earlier.  If anyone is reliable it is her.  If she signs up to lead or plan, she does it and does it well.  Unfortunately, she also usually gets stuck footing the bill for it too.  While I see and hear the frustration, I know she doesn’t mind because she is doing it for someone she cares about.  She has these same issues at work.  She plans and plans and people agree to help.  As the date for the event approaches these same people keep dropping off.  Suddenly there is something more important to them than keeping their word. 

I was always taught, “Even if you have nothing, you always have your word.”  How true.  I wonder how many people have ever thought about that.

Until next time.