Investing

A couple of weeks ago I took my three-year-old grandson, Gideon, to his preschool.  On the way, we stopped by a local park that has a beautiful lake.  Gideon is fascinated with wildlife so we always go hunting for turtles, fish, and ducks.  As we walked around the pond, Gideon squealed with delight when he spotted an aging turtle sunning himself on the banks.  Of course, the turtle splashed back into the pond when he spied Gideon  running up to it and me trying to catch Gideon before he jumped in after the turtle.  Thankfully Gideon stopped just short of the pond, bent over, and watched the turtle swim around below him.  As I reached the water’s edge, Gideon looked up and said, “Vivi, see all the fish swimming with Mr. Turtle?”  Sure enough there were tiny fish gliding through the muddy water.  Had I not looked closing I would have missed the scene.

Later that morning I picked up Gideon’s brother, ten month old Jude, and we set out on our own adventure.  I am introducing Jude to nature as well.  Now for a ten month old, the world is pack full of “new” things.  Birds tweeting, a breeze on your face, a dandelion, geese, and rocks all hold his attention.  I am amazed every time I take Jude outdoors at what his little eyes and ears notice.  I find myself paying closer attention as well.

However, there is one point I want to make today.  Sure, we should take time to notice our world around us but are we investing in our world.

Our world tells that we should invest in the stock markets in order to have financial security.  People put a portion of their salaries into IRAs or some other form of savings plan for the future.  However, I believe we need to invest our time in relationships too.

Right now my investment is in my time spent with my grandsons.  We giggle together, give hugs and kisses, play and go on “ventures” and discover what God has given us.  It is my hope that one day when they are grown that they will look back and remember that Vivi took time to love them and teach them about Jesus.

As ministers’ wives we too need to invest in people.  Yes, it is hard sometimes to build relationships with people in our church.  They can hurt us.  However, if we are truly called to ministry, we must spend time with people one on one. 

I have been in many relationships where I was “investing” my time and energy.  Things seemed to really be progressing until a bump in the relationship occurs.  BAM!  There is a breech-harsh words, personal issues, mistrust, a move, etc.  The relationship takes a hit and I must decide what to do. 

As for me, I try to discover ways to mend and rebuild.  I hate broken relationships.  They hurt my heart and cause me to question what I could do better.  Just like when the stock market takes a hit and it takes time to recover and rebuild, the same is true in relationships.  It may only take a couple of days and some forgiveness and the relationship is back on track.  However, and sadly, sometimes broken relationships never mend.  This has happened to me even though I have tried to restore the connection. 

Investments in ministry are sometimes very successful and at other times we must accept the fact that some investments never pay off.  However, we must keep trying.  We must keep investing our lives in to people around us.  I think Jesus had some successes and some failures.  I think of Peter who denied Jesus three times.  Talk about a bump in that relationship investment.  Yet, Jesus and Peter restored that connection and Peter became a great leader in Christianity.  Then there is Judas who betrayed Jesus.  Look at the time and energy Jesus poured into his life only to be disappointed.  Judas used Jesus for his benefit.  He gained thirty pieces of silver and lost eternity.  What a waste!

Ladies, I want to encourage to be intentional about making investments in people’s lives.  Yes, there will be some failures, however, think about the eternal rewards for the successes.