This past week, our team’s main project was turning tables.
We turned plain, simple, wooden 1st grade tables into beautiful, bright, education tables full of life, color, Khmer words, and lots of fun pictures!
Turning Tables from Nicole Ricketts on Vimeo.
This seems like a pretty basic type of project, but I would say that our team learned a lot through all this. Our full 10 hour- Saturday of painting the pictures on the tabletops went SO well! When we sat back and thought about it, it was only through the joy and the power of the Holy Spirit that we worked so well together. There was no fighting over paintbrushes, colors, or “territorial claims” to a certain desk. Everyone was super helpful in passing around jobs, asking for help, and really worked together in the way everyone always wishes it would! It was fantastic.
However, we did have our share of setbacks. We couldn’t find materials when we needed them from the market. We found out that varnish is different than polyurethane, and that even though it calls for a portion of paint thinner, it only makes it eat through the paint and leave you with really nasty streaks. There were many times when we could have chosen to fix the problem with our own strength. There were a few times my perfectionist mindset got the best of me, like when a white glob of paint dripped down on top of my globe, or I totally messed up my Khmer writing.
At the same time, I was super proud of Jessica for initiating that we come to God for the answer on “how do we make these tables work?” From the picture design to the top coating, we really did ask the Lord to be a part of the whole project, and I LOVE that. Jessica has been reading a book that tells story after story of how Christians often ask God to bless their work rather than asking Him to lead us into our work so that it IS, in fact, blessed. It was really awesome to get to practice that during this project.
I’ve come to realize that much of life falls into this category for me. It’s REALLY easy to fall into “business mind” mode and begin to tackle things within my own strength, within the knowledge I’ve accumulated through studies and experience. I have a feeling much of this month is going to be teaching me about how to let the Holy Spirit breathe life into EVERY faucet of the business world. He’s given us knowledge and experience TO USE, but He DEFINITELY still wants us to ask Him what to do with those gifts!
I think it’s something that many of us can work on, and I think the Holy Spirit is waiting for our generation to come to Him for these things! Can you imagine what could happen within corporate America if all the Christians came to Him on a DAILY basis and asked Him to be a part of each thing that they did at work? I believe it would change our country in a massive way.
One step at a time; one table at a time.
