The Law of the Teeter-Totter or What goes up must come down

This was a disappointing day. And the disappointment deserves some reflection.

Three weeks ago at the church we had a Backyard Mission Project

. It went wonderfully. People from churches all over the state came to support us as we served our community. We served around 30 people. We took on over 30 projects. Not a bad weekend for a church of 30-40 in worship attendance, half of which is over 70. The coffee shops were buzzing about it. People were discussing it at city hall. The local newspaper had a wonderful article about it.

And since the week of afterglow that followed the project, it seems like there has been one discouragement after another. The downstairs bathroom wall was torn out and the pipes were replaced after a leak was unearthed. There have been complaints about a renovation project I worked with the church on for 6 months, and they have undone much of the work on the project through a vote while I was on vacation. Close friends in the church dropped a surprise note in my box to resign their leadership positions in the church, and asked me not to discuss it with them.

I imagine there are some people where these kinds of downs do not follow a very good moment, but it almost always happens with most of us. What goes up must come down. Like a tetter totter, the exileration of the emotional and spiritual high is followed by the nauseating, gut-busting low. It is in that moment you have to get your feet on the ground, your hands dirty, and get back to the scrapy, dirty work that lead to the success you have had so far. Such is life.