Making Sense

Working in the mission field is not always glamorous. There are times when you feel you are making a huge impact and there are times you are cleaning toilets. Both of them are important in their own way even if one leaves you feeling more fulfilled than the other.

We were working together on a project on this last trip cleaning two large swamp coolers. They were covered in tar and grime and needed to be scraped clean and then repainted. It was fairly tedious work and we spent two days trying to get them ready to paint. The first day we worked at it was a bit monotonous as it took a long time to prep. Honestly, our biggest obstacle was our motivation.

Our original (mistaken) thought was that we were doing this so they could be put back in storage for some future potential use. After asking a few questions I discovered that they had been removed from the kitchen roof and were going to be put back up there for summer use. Once we understood what they were going to be used for, it changed our motivation and we didn't seem to mind the work as much.

When we understand the purpose behind what we are doing it changes our level of energy. We now have a connection between our task and a goal that makes sense. When we understand what the purpose is for something we tend to work harder at it and find more joy in the process. Connecting the dots to see the bigger picture is a key part of fulfillment and our personal motivation.