Over my many years, I’ve worked in small businesses, healthcare settings, spent many years working in corporate America, and now I’m settled in as the Administrator at our church. I was fortunate to learn a variety of skills in many businesses, and each time I moved to a new career, the skills I learned helped me be better than I was before.
I learned early on in my management career to get in and understand the positions of those I managed. I unfortunately got burned, as they say, by an employee who didn’t like being asked questions. That day I decided that I would know and understand the responsibilities of my team. I wanted to be able to not only do what they were being asked to do, but also understand their challenges and help them find solutions to make their work easier and more rewarding. I won’t ask my team to do something that I’m not willing to do, or, better yet, have done myself.
Yesterday I found myself doing a little of this and that. I enjoy Fridays because there are only a few of us working. Since many of our team work Sunday, they take Friday off. So, the office is a little quieter, and I’m able to focus on project-type work.
With the building project in full swing, there are some additional things that have to be taken care of daily. I made my daily walk around the construction site, picking up litter, turning on manual sprinklers (our irrigation system was taken out during demo), and taking a daily round of pictures of the progress for the website.
As I made my way back to our parish hall, I watered some plants on the front deck and pulled some weeds from the flower beds. I made my way inside to wash my hands and found coffee urns from the day before. I washed and dried those.
Headed back to my office, I walked through the current sanctuary and noticed that some of the silver candlesticks were looking tarnished. Yep, it was nice to take some time to polish them. It’s rewarding to see these types of pieces sparkle and be ready for Sunday morning.
Yes, I found all sorts of little projects to do yesterday. I wrapped up the day by getting the final items ready for our gourmet canner booth at the Christmas Market next weekend. It was a productive day 🙂 .
What I’ve learned over the many years of working is when you see something that needs to be done, do it. Leave the place a little better than you found it. And…don’t ask someone to do something you aren’t willing and able to do yourself. Be humble and know that doing the little things often makes the biggest impact.
I guess my point in today’s little blog is that we’re here for a very short time. The Lord has blessed us with this place, so let’s take care of it. Maybe I went the long way around to make the point. Oh well, thanks for listening to my ramblings, friends.
Have a great day 🙂
Philippians 1:6
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
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