Bulletin boards…

…”Woe to me! The Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest…”

–Jeremiah 45:3

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

–Colossians 3:23

Let us not grow weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don’t give up.

–Galatians 6:9

“So, I’m an easy-going person. I don’t complain about the stuff a lot of people complain about because, well, most stuff just rolls off my back…

But there is something I hate about teaching above all other tasks.

Making my bulletin boards.

Hate hate hate.”

–from a Reddit thread

Bulletin boards…

In the teaching world you either love, “hate hate hate,” or dread them. I was definitely in the dread camp. On top of the pressure to come up with an original! stimulating! meaningful! theme, there was the agony of puncture wounds and paper cuts.

At least for me.

My last directive as a student teacher was to create and assemble a bulletin board (on the kings of France, if anyone cares). It was all in the name of “skills that will be expected of you.” I think my mentor just didn’t want to do it.

So, Shelbo, what do bulletin boards have to do with doing good and serving God? Stretch much?

Okay…hear me out…

I’m reading Jeremiah, meditating on it…what’s the lesson, meaning, life application?…hmm, what’s the commentary say?…taking time to really. dig. in.

Paraphrasing Jeremiah 45:3-5…Baruch is being the faithful scribe, and all he’s seeing is woe on top of pain on top of suffering, and no end in sight, and the Lord assures him that He’s got his back…

And suddenly! I’m back in the third grade…

Mrs. McKay says, “Shelby, David, could you help me by constructing that bulletin board in the back? Everything you need is on the desk there.”

I have no idea why she chooses us, and I have no clue what the finished board is supposed to look like…

I just say, “Yes, Mrs. McKay.”

I responded, not with questions, but with joy and excitement! There were absolutely “injuries,” and some periods of tedium, but I hardly registered them, caught up in the euphoria of helping a beloved and respected teacher, who had specially called me into service.

So…when the Lord specially calls me into service…

What better answer than some good ol’ childlike faith?

“Yes, Lord.”

Life Application Bible commentary from Jeremiah–“As you serve God, don’t focus on what you are giving up…redirect your attention to the incomparable privilege of serving Him.”

What a privilege and an honor to serve our Lord! Nothing else that I do brings such a sense of purpose, such fulfillment, such joy, such an avalanche of love. Standing in front of an ocean or on a mountaintop is AWESOME, but for me, still, nothing compares to a daily “for-You” list (which often includes oceans, mountaintops, and, yes, rest as well) or a long-term calling assigned by Him…

You’ve got a job for me? The answer is YES…

Even if it’s something I dread…

Even if I don’t fully understand what it is…or why…or why You picked me…

The answer is “Yes, Lord.”

Pass the stapler.

I’m on it!