Going from being in full-on adventure ministry to a job in the “real world”, I forgot to think about how my job related to the gospel. I always knew I had a passion for hospitality, mostly because I love to make people feel comfortable in unknown situations. I think that Jesus is the greatest example of feeding and caring for those without a place to go. However, it didn’t hit me until just the other night just how much my job echoes one small aspect of God’s redemptive story.
Normally when I go to bed at night, I hit the pillow and am gone until 7:30 am when my alarm wakes me up. The other night was different. I just laid there. Not much on my mind, just being still. Then a Bible verse came to me. Now I’m not one to over spiritualize things, but it really just popped in my head and I couldn’t shake it! It was Jesus’ words when He was bidding farewell to His disciples: “I am going to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2, New Living Translation).
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| Sometimes my desk looks like this |
My days are full of walking up and down stairways, ordering light fixtures and towels, delegating instructions, finishing wood pieces, hanging up artwork, organizing the budget, and the list could go on. There is never a dull moment at my workplace and I’m so thankful to be working with the gracious people that I do…I certainly don’t deserve or feel qualified to have this position. There’s an amazing crew that works so hard moving furniture, organizing rooms, and flattening acres upon acres of cardboard. In record time, they have unloaded countless semi trucks of furniture in 100+ degree weather and forest fire smoke-filled air. To describe what they do in a day is kind of like describing a trip with students in the wilderness: next to impossible. (and would take up too much of your time…you’d have to be there!)
In two weeks, we have reservations walking through the doors. The dream is becoming reality. Boxes that we ordered last winter are finally being opened and some days it feels like the long awaited Christmas day when the pieces start to be assembled. Every day I get more and more excited to see just another part complete the work so many hands have made possible. When people ask what the rooms will be like, all I can say is that “they are unlike any other hotel room you’ve ever stayed in.” From hand-distressed wood and old family photos to beautiful artwork by a local artist, every single room has been hand-designed and thought through. (by the way, this isn’t me, the owners are the masterminds and have an amazing gift for design and structure!)
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| He's standing on a container full of cardboard! |
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| Sanding the Fireplace Mantles |
10 months into this project, I’m like a kid in a candy store…pumped and giddy and so excited to see what happens! (No kidding, I jump up and down and clap my hands sometimes). But Jesus has literally been building, designing, creating a place for us for 2,000 years!
I’m sorry, did you get that? 2,000 years.
Mind blown.
Also, Jesus doesn’t have a budget; extravagant is too little of a word to describe our future prodigal dwelling. He also doesn’t have to order furniture from across the universe. No need to call in the architects, painters, electricians, plumbers, tilers, dry wallers, carpet layers, finishers. He’s got it all under control. In fact, there won’t be any need for lightbulbs or lamps because He’s the source of light. We’ll get to eat newly invented fruit and stroll the streets of gold. Heaven’s technology advancement is too much for us to comprehend or even imagine now. There won’t be any flaws for it is perfectly measured and whole. It won’t be hindered by a fallen world. Why does this blow me away when I’ve recognized that He created the whole universe in 6 days?! Because I’m experiencing some kind of a glimpse of His heart for His children…and it’s taking him way longer to get the new heavens and earth ready!
I can’t wait to see people’s faces when they walk in the rooms for the first time. Actually, I’ve given some friends and family little sneak peak tours of the unfinished rooms and they’re already amazed. I feel like Jesus just gave me a sneak peak of His world this past week. He’s preparing a place for me to live for the rest of eternity and it’s going to blow my mind. He’s been working on it for 2,000 years and counting. It’s like He whispered in my ear, “You think this is cool? Just you wait and see what I’ve got for you to stay in!” Most importantly, He reminded me that whatever I’m doing can illustrate the gospel.
It’s not just my job that expresses kingdom work. I wrote this to share something I learned and something I needed to be reminded of: Jesus gave us a wonderfully diverse world with so many opportunities and experiences. Let us not loose sight of how those things are sourced from the One Creator, Inventor, Organizer, Teacher, Father, Servant, and Leader. “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31, New Living Translation).
How does your current job express a glimpse of Jesus’ Kingdom?
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| Our first container of furniture |
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At the end of this post I wanted to share a few verses describing heaven, but was so overwhelmed by Revelation 21 and 22 that I just had to share it all! It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about the way Jesus describes the new city: it’s not only beautiful for those of us who appreciate creativity, it’s also perfectly engineered. He gives numbers that prove it’s flawless build. If you have time, I encourage you to read this slowly and let these extravagant words soak in:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, ‘Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.’
And the one sitting on the throne said, ‘Look, I am making everything new!’ And then he said to me, ‘Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.’ And he also said, ‘It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega-the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children. But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and al liars-their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.’
Then one of the seven angels who held the seven bowls containing the seven last plagues came and said to me, ‘Come with me! I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’
So he took me in the Spirit to a great, high, mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone-like jasper as clear as crystal. The city wall was broad and high, with twelve gates guarded by twelve angels. And the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gate. There were three gates on each side-east, north, south, and west. The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
The angel who talked to me held in his hand a gold measuring stick to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. When he measured it, he found it was a square, as wide as it was long. In fact, its length and width and height were each 1,400 miles. Then he measured the walls and found them to be 216 feet thick (according to the human standard used by the angel).
The wall was made of jasper, and the city was pure gold, as clear as glass. The wall of the city was built on foundation stones inlaid with twelve precious stones: the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were made of pearl-each gate from a single pearl!
And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass. I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light.
The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory. Its gates will never be closed at the end of the day because there is no night there. And all the nations will bring their glory and honor into the city.
Nothing evil will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty-but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.
No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. And there will be no night there-no need for lamps of sun-for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever. Then the angel said to me, ‘Everything you have heard and send is trustworthy and true. The Lord God, who inspires his prophets, has sent his angel to tell his servants what will happen soon.’
Revelation 21-22:6, New Living Translation
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