Yet the nature of ministry work is in many ways unchanging.  You do many of the same things, week in and week out.  Important and rewarding things, but things that don't have a sense of completion necessarily.  Not the type of work that you look back at the end of a week or a month or a year and can point to something and say I accomplished that.  Which is probably why so many poor theologians attempt to do just that by measuring membership or giving or numbers of programs or any number of other metrics.

That's why today was such fun for me.  Working with a handful of others, we planted the first stage of our 'community' garden, installed most of the watering system, enjoyed lunch together, and generally just reveled in the sunlight and dirt and water and work.  And at the end of the day's work, we could look over a plot of land that had been growing weeds just two weeks ago, but which now was filled with freshly tilled new soil and steer manure, lines of tiny, brave plants already struggling to adapt to their new environment.  

I have no idea where all this will lead.  It's thrilling to see some of our people excited and motivated on a project.  But there are certainly risks that we can't mitigate.  Vandals or bored teens could decide to destroy the garden immediately or down the road.  People could poach the produce as it ripens.  Hours and days and weeks of hard work could be ruined by a few impulsive moments of thoughtlessness.

And yet the work can't be entirely ruined.  Outcomes are never guaranteed.  And regardless of what happens from this evening onwards, a day was still spent in joyful work together.  Work with a prayer and a hope and a vision of an outcome, but ultimately time spent laboring together and growing closer in that process.  This is the process of ministry - planting and tending and tilling and watering and praying - never knowing the final outcome, entrusting the entire process and outcome to the God who empowers and calls and holds all things in His hands, while sometimes using my hands to His ends.  This garden, as with ministry, needs to remain focused on the work at hand, trusting the outcomes to the only One who knows them.  

How humbling.  And how glorious!