It’s mulch time at Richmond Ropes. The sun is out, the weeds are coming up and the paths and ground around the elements are crying out ‘cover us!’ Over the past two months, I’ve been blessed with a crew of 5 guys whose mission-for two hours each week, at least-has been to help me in my mulching endeavor. They’re here to learn English at YWAM VA’s English Language and Culture School, and of all our students work for 2 hours each day to help keep the base running. Their tasks are usually pretty varied, but they got to know that when they saw me heading across the driveway at the beginning of work duty time, it was time to grab the shovels, pitchforks and wheelbarrows and head back to the ‘mountain,’ as they dubbed it, of wood chips (Picture: Pedro, one of my crew, loading mulch to take to the mountain). We made great headway over the almost two months we’ve worked together, and last week came the pinnacle of our efforts-at the end of each school, we set aside two days where students and staff work together to get the base ready for the next school and do other projects to improve our property and grounds. Our base director usually looks out for the ropes course and assigns me at least a few guys to help with the ‘man work’ of maintaining the course, and this time was no exception.
‘Ok, Beth,' you’re thinking, ‘what does all of this have to do with elephants?’ Don’t worry, it’s coming. I found out about my workday crew on a Friday. I was elated and immediately started calling our city dump (they offer free mulch to city residents) to find out when the front-end loader operator would be around to fill our ancient truck (I call her Bessie the Big Blue Truck-pictured left, at the dump on workday) with mulch. After several days of calling and missing him, I was moving from elated to desperate. Finally, the day before workday, the heavens opened and the voice on the other end of the line said ‘he’ll be here for 15 more minutes.’ I hopped in the truck, in my skirt and high-heeled sandals (I was slated to sing at church later that evening-but when the mulch man cometh, you don’t stop to change clothes), and, shortly thereafter found myself standing behind Bessie on the Low Circuit in my work clothes, holding a pitchfork and looking at an impossibly large load of mulch. I had to leave in a little over two hours—so, leaving time to put away tools, eat, and become presentable again, I had almost exactly an hour to do the work. Enough time for two strapping, strong guys-not enough for one spaghetti-armed girl.
I started shoveling and praying-‘God, how am I going to do this?’ The only answer I got was an old joke-the corny kind my family likes to call ‘John jokes’ because my Dad, John, loved them so much:
Q: ‘How do you eat an elephant?’ A: ‘One bite at a time’
So I kept shoveling, chipping away at my elephant one bite at a time. And as I shoveled, I thought. Shoveling is a great time to ponder things-from the physics of flying mulch to the events of your week to the mysteries of life.(Need some contemplative time? Give me a call and I can schedule a mulch meditation session for you, no problem. :) ) I had been struggling, the day before, with the enormity of my job as the ropes course director- groups, maintenance, repairs, scheduling, staffing, promoting, purchasing equipment-and had come to a place of crying out to God: ‘did you really call me to this? Because I CAN’T do it!’ As I thought through the events and conversation that had brought me to that point and tried to make sense of it all, I had one of those moments where God taps you on the shoulder and gently pulls you back from the tiny corner of the picture you’ve been studying to a place where you can see more, if not all, of it. And when He did, I saw a connection. The day before, my job had looked as impossible to me as the load of mulch had a few moments earlier. And the solution was the same: ask God, trust Him, and then start eating, one bite at a time.
I finished the shoveling just in time (Pictures: me and some of the workday crew shoveling even more mulch). I cleaned up and headed to church where the speaker talked about Elijah and the prophets of Baal-how Elijah had this huge thing to do (convincing Israel to turn from Baal worship back to the one true God by calling fire down on a soaking wet altar and sacrifice) that he couldn’t possibly do on his own. I felt God tapping me on the shoulder again as this gentleman challenged us to look at what we feel called to do and submitted that if it wasn’t too big for us to do on our own, it probably wasn’t of God. Because, let’s be honest-if it’s within our reach, we just do it. It’s only when it’s an elephant- or an impossibly large truckload of mulch- that we throw up our hands and say ‘help!’ and He has the opportunity to step in and be glorified as He shows us who He is.
So as you consider the elephant (or mountain of mulch) on your plate, let me give you a tip, one diner to another-there’s only one way to get it down. Paul describes it well: ‘We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself…but that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.’ II Cor 1:8-10
And, of course, one bite at a time.
If you’ll excuse me, I think I hear God calling me to the table for another bite. Happy eating!
Praise God with Me:
+For a blessed, safe, productive and successful trip to the west coast for training and certification-God blessed me with increased experience, comfort, passion in the area to which He’s called me. He also blessed me with passing scores on both my tests and the awarding of my Level II certification, not to mention the financial and practical provision it took to get and keep me there.
+For the groups He’s bringing out to the course-our schedule is not yet as full as I’d like it to be, but there are several connections He’s made between us and ministries that I’m very excited to partner with in their work with at-risk kids.
Pray with Me:
+That I will continue to rely on God and not myself as I direct the ropes course. Particularly, that I won’t let financial (we owe some money to the base for building that was done before I became the director) or logistical (I am currently the only full-time staff on the ropes course, which is challenging in many areas) issues overshadow what God is calling me to-to be used by Him in the lives of at-risk kids through the ropes course.
+That God will bring more groups to the course. It’s sometimes quite frustrating to have this amazing tool and see it being used less often than it could be.
+That God will call and raise up at least one more full-time staff person for the course-I’m blessed with 14 volunteers, but all are committed primarily to other ministries and help out on the course in their spare time-which is limited.
+That God will equip and bless my volunteers as they serve Him on the course as well as in their own ministries, giving them energy, skill, discernment and words of encouragement for the participants.
