on serving & joy

July 3, 2010

Jonny: whats the good life?

sitting on your butt in front of your computer, and answernig phone calls all day?

you can already do that w/o a math degree

me: haha no the good life is being able to do what i enjoy

& also being able to serve others

and God at hte same time

Over this last week, I got to help out at church since one of the staff members went to lead a mission trip, and they needed a person to fill in. Basically, I sat in the front office at church, opened doors &greeted people, answered the phone &transferred them to the correct office, and did other random tasks that people needed help with. Whenever the deacons, pastors, and staff members had meetings, I got to do everything on my own. SO FUN! It honestly filled me with much joy being able to serve in such small ways here. :)
It's fun when friends call in and after I say the usual "hello, this is rhccc, how may I help you" in chinese, they laugh & tell me who they are. :) It's fun when friends drop by to say hi & end up staying an hour stalking our friends on fb. It's enjoyable being able to talk to the people here because they are so nice & genuinely happy to be here. :) It's fun when people come visit the church and after realizing who I am, exclaim at how much older I am now, and how I look so much like my mom now. It's enjoyable talking to old ladies on the phone :) -

Elderly lady: What's your last name?

me: kuang

Elderly lady: kuang... like kuang zhi xiao (my dad's name)?

me: haha yeah, I'm his daughter.

Elderly lady: OHHH! I know your grandma! (&then rambles off about how she knows my grandma and how my personality seems to be very open and happy like my dad's, lol)

---she calls back again later---

Elderly lady: kuang xiao jie ma? (is this ms. kuang?)

me: yeah, haha

Elderly lady: are you an older sister or younger?

me: I'm an older sister

Elderly lady: ohhh very nice

(she called back again later, and staff picked it up. apparently she had given me a nickname already: xiao kuang (little kuang) haha)

It's awesome when the English side's youth pastor's 6 year old son comes to visit, and I get to play with him in the hallway.

But besides all that, I think I just find a lot of joy being able to volunteer at church and help out in whatever way I can. This I believe is the good life.

I've realized I find most joy in not only doing what I enjoy doing, but in what I know is serving both God and others in the process. I think that is one of the key ideas in being able to have a joyful attitude in anything you do, whether or not it is boring. It's not about the actual work, one could be a garbage truck driver and still be the most joyful person in the world. It's all about attitude and perspective, and being able to realize that no matter where we are and what we are doing, we can and are serving God, and when we serve so great and loving of a God, how can we not be joyful? I really like volunteering at church, because everyone here honestly looks glad and happy to be at their 'work.' It doesn't even feel like work. It's all about attitude and perspective I suppose, and realizing that joy and happiness that comes only in good situations or dependent upon people is not true joy and happiness, but that true joy and happiness comes when our attitude and perspective are focused on the correct object: God, and having our everything come from Him alone.

That's how Paul was able to remain so joyful and content despite things not going according to his plan, despite being thrown in jail, despite being beaten and unfairly treated. His sights were not focused on the actual situations or what was going on, but his sights were focused on God and on serving and glorifying Him, and with that comes joy. :)