The buck stops here

Tuesday while I was at church working there was a bit of a stir. It amazes me or better put it amazed me over what. I work with Dan who is the head of the Graphic Arts department. His office is, as you would expect full of designs, concepts, and "STUFF". There is always boxes and things sitting around the office when I come in. Not so surprising considering he is behind the stage sets for all of the different venues our church has and just about every flyer, brochure, or pamphlet that is created. On a typical weekend North Coast has, I believe, over 6000 people come through the doors at all the different locations/venues.

Outside of the office this morning I found out after I had been there only 10 minutes was a music stand with a dollar bill on it. This single dollar bill attracked more attention then I would have ever expected. In fact a big part of me almost wanted to say 'is this a test'. A test to see how many people would ask about the dollar. A test to see who would ask if it was anyones dollar. A test simply to see how many people would be effected by a single dollar bill sitting on that music stand. When I arrived that dollar bill must have been there as I walked by and entered the office. I never noticed it. But it appeared to me, after the repeated interruptions that no one else seemed to walk by without asking. The one comment that was repeated if you wonder was, "should I add this to the offering". That made me laugh. But of course that would be the comment made within the church. One person though made the comment, "Does this mean the buck stops here?" Cute.... that comment really caught my attention to that single dollar bill. I was reminded of this event at church this weekend when pastor Chris talked and used another illustration of a $5 dollar bill being attached to a fishing pole and the man hid and threw it out. Upon being spotted floating in the water another man started to chase this $5 dollar bill until he found out that it was attached to the pole and he had been chasing the 'almighty dollar' around.

What am I spending my life chasing around? For years I was in a marriage that focused on making more, earning more, having more. More of what? This weekends sermon titled For Richer for Poorer spoke to my heart. We can't take things with us when we depart here. Our riches, the things we will look back on as the years pass on will not be "That plasma screen I had 20 years ago was so cool!" or "Remember that Ipod dear we had back in the early 2000's wasn't that a cool thing to own?" No we won't look back as the years pass on and think about the things we wished we would have owned or purchased or had the money to have. We will look back and remember the people that crossed our paths and the ones we hurt or didn't help when we were given that opportunity.

The last post I had the opportunity to write here was about my Tuesday and how hectic it was. I was in tears that night thinking about how my life passed by me that day and I had no control over it. Later on during the week the lady of one of the sons I had brought home that day called me to see how schooling had been going for me. She had had one of my "Tuesdays" that Friday. She called and needed encouragement. I was in tears after I got off that phone with her realizing that I was a help again. By being there, understanding, listening, I was able to help her. Time is something we don't have great quantities of. Time is something we question never having enough of. But when we stop to offer time to someone who crosses our paths, we end up blessed in ways unexplainable. Essentially, the buck does stop here. It stops with each one of us. What will we do with the time we are given here, who will we influence, encourage or help?