It had been almost an hour.
45 minutes to be exact. Waiting, insisting, to speak to a supervisor. Much to the dismay of the current employee on the phone. By the time the supervisor got on the phone, I was almost in tears, talking quickly and loudly, to the point of yelling to get my point across. Hours of phone calls, emails, retrieving documents, and filling out forms over the course of 5 weeks. Jumping through hoops and red tape, trying to appease them in every way, trying to give them everything they asked for. And we still were not able to get into our account. I didn't have a lot of hope for this conversation, either.
To say I was frustrated was an understatement. I probably could’ve handled it better. But after so many attempts (10 to be exact) of trying to submit the proper documentation to get into our church account, I was at my wits' end. It was not a pretty sight. One phone conversation with my boss/pastor went a little something like this (my paraphrase):
Him: “So have we had any luck with our account?”
Me: “No. Still trying to get in. It’s been 5 weeks, I’m jumping through all their hoops. I’ve submitted all the documents. Now they’re telling me I need a new notarized letter.”
Him: “This is ridiculous.”
Me: “Yep. I can’t even begin to tell you how frustrated I am with it all.”
Him: “Ok. Well. Bye.”
Looking back now, it absolutely cracks me up. I wouldn’t want to open that can of worms either! He knew he’d probably regret it if he pushed any further so he didn’t. I can’t blame him. It might not have been quite that abrupt, but after I made my comment about how frustrated I was, the conversation ended pretty quickly. And understandably so.
Working in ministry is hard. It’s so hard. And some days (like yesterday, when I spent a collective 3.5-4 hours dealing with this ONE issue that had been ongoing for over a month) it’s enough to make me want to pull my hair out. But it’s also so rewarding. And there’s just nothing else like it. Like:
- the times I get to see my youth students finally understand something that they’ve been trying to wrap their head around for weeks or months
- the times I get to watch them do things they love (like play soccer or dance)
- the times we get to host retreats with other churches and really dig into what Scripture says about a certain topic or delve deep into a specific passage
- the times I get to play games with students that you just don't really play as adults anymore (like slapping card games, or tag!)
- the times when I get the chance to photograph someone being baptized, because they’ve made a decision to commit their life to Christ and they want to make it public
- the times I see people I’ve mentored or led in some capacity living their best life for Jesus
Ministry is hard. Life is hard. But God is faithful.
