INSPIRASUNS

A few weeks ago one of our parishioners contacted me about a summer job for their son. He is home from college and is looking for a part-time job to earn some spending money and stay busy until he heads back to school. He’s enrolled in some summer classes so he was only looking for work for the month of June. I told her that I could use him to help with some one-off projects we had.

The next day this young man showed up to talk and to thank me for the opportunity. We had a good conversation, set his start date, and I smiled, telling him we were looking forward to having him. He was excited as I told him that our HR person would send him the necessary paperwork. As a side note, he sent his paperwork back fully completed in record time.

I made a list of the projects I wanted him to tackle over the month he would be with us. On his first day, showing up right on time and ready to go. After the initial conversation about his schedule, lunch break, attire, (grubbies mostly), etc., I took him to meet up with our facilities manager. They knew each other from their time together at church. I walked them both through the project list, many of the items on the list were shared items for both of them.

It’s been fun to watch this young man over the past few weeks. He always has a smile on his face. He tackles any task without hesitation and when completed he is readily looking for the next thing to do. He doesn’t like to be idle. He has pressure washed, sorted through items for disposal, moved furniture, and prepped areas for contractors, (we’re finishing our school room restoration), all without hesitation.

One of the tasks on his list has been to paint several doors that were replaced as part of the hurricane restoration. When I initially asked him if he was ok with painting, he said, “I think so, I’ve never really painted anything, but I’m sure I’ll be fine”. And…fine he has totally been. Actually, he is meticulous! He has taken great care and things look wonderful.

These days, many of our youth have a reputation for not wanting to work. They want to spend their time on digital devices and not even see the light of day. Well, I have proof that this isn’t the case, at least with all of them. I’ve watched this young man take on any task given to him with eagerness. He truly wants to do a good job and when recognized for it, he lights up. He takes his job seriously, even though it’s only for a few weeks. He is going to make his full-time career employer very happy one day.

This morning I gave thanks to Father for this young man. I prayed that He would watch over him as he continues to grow through his college time. I asked Father to guide him, protect him, and keep his heart and mind open to all the possibilities in front of him. And…I thanked Father for bringing this young man to us and restoring my hope for this young generation 🙂 .

Have a good day friends, and say a little prayer for our youth, they are growing up in a very different world than we all did.

p.s. Thanks to my friend Emme Sanders for the sunset picture from Temecula, CA, the cover of today’s little blog.

Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.