I have had the amazing opportunity to work alongside a very inspirational man during my service project at our church property called Base Camp. Every day I was greeted with a smile and some warm coffee then handed some tools and an ATV and off I went, it was a sense of freedom and trust. Most of our work detail included manual labor like cutting and stacking firewood, repairing firewood shelters, and some general maintenance of the land. Last year when I decided to pick March as my sabbatical month, I made the decision based solely on the fact that March was always was my lowest sales volume. I had no idea that our church was planning three major camp retreats starting March 31st. We are hoping to have approximately 7000 people on this land over the next couple months. It was very apparent that God did not care about which month was my lowest, He hand-picked this month for me long before I even knew. Some days were cold and others were warm but one thing was consistent, I was surrounded by people that wanted to build His kingdom in major ways. We shared stories and we prayed, we told jokes and we laughed, we did some brainstorming and some strategizing, all of these things to help encourage each other and learn from one another. I have realized lately that The Lord has blessed us all with such amazing qualities. We are able to use our bodies in amazing ways to build and carry heavy objects and our brains to figure out the best way to handle situations. I felt a need to honor Him as I worked and poured everything I could into my task that day. When I returned from a hard day working on the land, I found myself eager to go back out at the next opportunity. My eagerness was a result of the company I was surrounded by while out there and the idea of building God’s kingdom. A few weeks ago I received my yearly social security statement and was struck by the amount of time that I have worked throughout my life. My first job was when I was 12 years old working at a party center washing dishes and preparing food. I wanted to work to earn money to buy CD’s and stereo equipment. This desire to work continued through high school, college, and beyond….. 26 years of my life I have spent working! Many life lessons I have learned through those opportunities but none of those lessons are as great as the one that I learned while helping out at Base Camp. We are all God’s vessels and designed for a purpose. No matter what work detail you encounter on a daily basis it is all for the greater good of His kingdom. I am confident in saying that through my service project work, lives will be changed. Many stories will be told around those campfires using the wood that I prepared. If just ONE person comes into a relationship with God as a result of those campfires then I have glorified God by building His kingdom. The even greater beauty in that statement is that I serve a loving and powerful God and I KNOW He will soften the hearts of many more people around the fires. A special thanks to Crossroads Church for this opportunity and an even bigger thanks to Mike Crossley who is truly the hands and feet of Christ!