I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13)
I am sure that most people who know of my work as a librarian would say that it’s a pretty good job; I mean, I get paid to sit around and read all day, right? If only I could say that I had time to read, but yes, on most days, I can say it’s a great job. I have a wonderful staff and love watching them interact with the public. The majority of my time is normally sitting at my desk, doing administrative work. This past week was not the norm.
I’ve been planning a renovation project for over a year, and in the library world, you can rarely do everything at once, because we are open seven-days-a-week, and the public likes it that way. Not only are we expected to be open, but work very hard to keep budgets down. All this makes demolition and renovation a challenge, and yet, we were given five days of approved closure to rip out some interior walls and put in new flooring in our entrance area.
My role was very clear — oversee the project, make sure construction workers were doing what they were supposed to do, keep staff busy on special projects and help confused patrons find our other locations or check out books at our back door. The goal: get it all done and open back up on time.
Mission accomplished! By the grace of God and LOTS of hard work.
I’m grateful for my understanding friends and church family, who allowed me to ignore them and miss church during my long hours at the library. I don’t think I’ve ever been so tired, but I’m thankful for the time with my staff, as we shifted books and worked outside our comfort zones for five days. Each one of us learned something new about a fellow colleague and that much can be accomplished if we push our own personal limits and work together. At the end of the project, I think we were all surprised, not only that we got it done, but at the end result.
The lesson: sometimes we can’t see beyond the walls. Whether it’s walls of fear or the unknown, it’s hard to envision the space or energy that’s created by doing some personal demolition and renovation.
Just like our library project is a work in progress, so is life. One wall comes down, but another soon rises to hinder further advancement. It’s OK. By His grace, a LOT of hard work, and a good team, that wall too, can be conquered.
So when life gets you down, thank the Lord for the energy he gave you to get through the day and celebrate the accomplishments of hard work.
Grace and Peace