Sometimes It Just Doesn't Make Sense

Last week, I began scraping paint with the NeighborLink interns at the house we we're able to rent for the summer months thanks to some NL supporters. One of the conditions of our agreement was to scrape and paint the front porch and trim around the house. 

As I was standing on a platform scraping paint above my head and having the lead-filled paint chips and dust rain down in my face, I began to think about why NL even exists. It was in that moment that my mind came back to a thought I often have when I take time to reflect on what all is involved in a NL project. 

I thought to myself as my arm got tired from being above my head, "Why does anyone ever take a NeighborLink project?"  NeighborLink shouldn't exist as I thought about it. Not because of some grand thought of noble and generous neighbors who care for their needy neighbors. No, it shouldn't exist because who in their right mind would take on these projects that they dread to do for themselves, let alone someone else. Take this painting project as an example. We'll have close to 100 hours of time into it before we're done. That's a lot of other work, fun, TV watching, exercise, lake time, etc. that we could be having that we're not having because we're scraping paint. I'd much rather spend the time time with my family or be on my bike than scraping paint.

This painting project is a little different because we're getting some value out of our work in a cheap place to rent for the summer, but the reality is that almost every project on the website fits this description. It's full of neighbors that cannot do for themselves and are asking for help. 

For some reason though, NeighborLink does exist and it does work (close to 200 completed projects this year). Every once in awhile we sense a wave of compassion and generosity come over us that we must do something with. Fortunately for NeighborLink, we have hundreds of volunteers each year that do for others what they really don't want to do for themselves. Many of them sense the same tension I felt on this painting project, but they realize that they are doing something for someone else and that it just feels like the right thing to do. Some sense the Holy Spirit in these situations and some of our volunteers just feel the sense of accomplishment and reward that comes with helping another member of their community. 

I wish I could package that feeling up in a sample-sized package that I could give everyone that I meet so they can get a little taste of what it would be like to complete project.