the sagging brooch: the #hamburgerwasmama

Today I walked back and forth across our center.

Seriously. Seriously, it seems I spend a good bit of my time walking. Here and there. And then back again. Then back here to wait on someone. Then back to there to tutor Jade. Back to here again to do some random task. And then back to there again because I wasn’t able to finish the first thing I started. Only to have to turn around to get back here. Sometimes the here and there’s are rushed and other times the back and forth again’s are rather mundane. (More often than not, the rushing can still seem mundane. #momlife)

Yep, most days come to an end before I knew the time was even slipping away. And I am once again left with dirty feet, dirty dishes and dirty laundry. And why does my family always need to eat regular meals anyway?! (Just.Kidding. Okay so not really….) The end of most every day has me quite unsure how while I have not accomplished much, if anything, yet somehow another day is in the books without me knowing. I blink on a Monday and then somehow it’s Sunday night again; the same dishes and clothes waiting to be washed again, garbage cans needing to be emptied again, and newsletters (whoopsies) still left unwritten.

I am not much of a thinker (until after the fact). Usually it looks like this... Speak, react and then wonder: Why did I do that? What the heck was I thinking? Is there something I need to understand about myself because of what I just said? For instance - I haven’t been contemplating my place in this place, but did throw a random sarcastic remark at someone I am regularly crossing on my walking path each day recently. It was something along the lines of needing a t-shirt that says, “I walk to support Bible translation”.

Which got me to thinking. I don’t ever feel like I am accomplishing much except staying busy. And walking. Always walking.

Let me be honest, my job here is not on the high end of things. (Please know this is not a stab at self-pity. Trust me. Keep reading.) I am not the face of this organization. Which I am so grateful for. My wardrobe simply wouldn’t cooperate. (Please subdue your laughter for my sake. Wouldn’t that be a sight?) I am also not the bones (or the brains, or the brawn) to this work. Not even tendons connected to the bones of this organization.  My job as #hamburgerwasmama (which I like to roughly translate as “keeper of the hamburgers”) is more of an accessory. Not even necessarily a flashy pair of fabulous earrings, accessory. More of an old-grandma-ish brooch accessory. The lop-sided brooch that isn’t fully pinned on correctly, accessory. The sagging brooch. (Hahaha!!!!)

Or maybe, since I am not quite 40 yet, I am more of the safety pin.

(Totally wore these pants with this safety pin today before I knew I would write this. Have no fear; I have new pants coming in the mail. Though I plan on keeping these beauties too.)

Perhaps a brief explanation is required? You see the Teen Centre (my department) exists for two main reasons. The first is to minister to our community by providing a night out of the kitchen. Um, yeah, let’s not minimize that one. Eating out is such a HUGE deal here. (Yesterday, my neighbor’s husband brought her Chinese takeout from the coast. The coast that is more than a four-hour drive away. Go ahead. Let that sink in.) Teen Centre makes burgers and fries (amongst other things) to feed the missionaries and give the missionary-meal-makers a night off. Hence I am the #hamburgerwasmama. The second purpose is to provide our teens with work experience. You can take those two things and run with them… as far as you want. It’s more involved than I am making it, but yeah. Not the face. Not the bones. Not the tendons.

 

Just the safety pin.

And I am happy being the safety pin. I find joy in my work. I know the food industry. I show my love by acts of service. My favorite way to serve people is to feed them. Teenagers are my favorite type of person. And to top it all off, I can do this while obediently following the call God has placed on my life to support the work of Bible translation.

That’s pretty neat.

“Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of His body.” Romans 12:5 MSG