Service Week

Once the muscle soreness from a week of service to the community, involving such things as washing windows and serving dinner at the Rescue Misssion, has worn off, what will be left to remind us of the service that we provided which left a smile on our faces at the end of the day?
Last week I hastily put together a week of activities for the coming week, all with the focus of service in mind. Although the concept of a week of the summer dedicated to service had been churning and dwelling in my mind for quite a while, I neglected to put much thought into it, and I quickly put together the week's activities in a few hours time.
The result of my few hours of work, however, translated into perhaps a lifetime of work in God's hands, because the impact that was made during this week of service by and on the teens was great. Although the service opportunities were made with just a few phone calls, God had these opportunities in mind for who knows how long. He had been preparing the teens and those with whom they interacted for years, waiting for just the right time to reveal his plans. His patience is awesome, and his deeds are unfathomable! My service scavenger hunt in the church neighborhood, became God's window washing program when the hunt turned into conversations with the elderly, and my dinner serving at the Rescue Mission became God's food serving ministry, when His love reached out to the hearts of the teens and called them to return regularly to the Rescue Mission.
My plans (or lack of) for a service week did not match God's. The result? God's plans showing through. So returning to the original question, what remains to remind us of the week of service we spent on the community after our labor pains have subsided? The answer is changed hearts due to God's love for the poor, the answer is the ministries that come out of that week of service, the answer, quite simply, is God.