Dad, do you work on cars?
One night, Joseph looks at me and asks, "Dad, do you work on cars?"
I said yes, sometimes (he's helped me change the oil several times), but it seemed like that didn't quite answer his question. It took me a second to remember that he was learning about jobs in kindergarten - you know, policeman, doctor, etc. - and was asking me if that's what I did for my job. Then I realized that I was wearing my official Mazda dealership shirt that night (I got it for free when a uniform company was going out of business next to one of the ministries we work with - yes, random, I know).
I told him that while I do work on cars here and there, that's not really my job. So of course the next question was, "Well, what is your job?"
Hmmm... How to summarize my job? I've struggled with communicating the variety of all that I do for many years with churches, friends, and family - every day is different for me, and a million ideas started flooding through my mind. I mobilize volunteers. I move furniture. I teach about the Bible. I answer the doorbell. I design newsletters. I pursue justice. I rake leaves. I paint. I teach other people how to paint. I love my neighbor. I hang out with kids. I fix computers. I train and develop young adult staff leaders. I give glory to God. How do I communicate what I do in a way that a 5-year-old understands? (all of this went through my brain in about two seconds)
In a God-inspired moment, I replied, "I help people to help people." After the words came out, they just sounded right. All (or at least almost all) of what I do each day is helping people to help other people, whether it's organizing a service day or training summer staff; communicating God's heart through word and pictures or a weekly cleaning of our ministry house; hanging out with kids on the street or rearranging the garage.
I think that's my new favorite job description for what I do. Apparently, my answer was good enough for Joseph, too. He looked at me thoughtfully for a second, and then said "okay," and went back to his homework. I know that he'll have plenty of time to figure out just what that looks like, but for now, that's alright.
