Standing with paint brush in one hand, and a steaming hot Coke in the other.  Sweat was dripping out of every pore in my body.  I seriously thought that death was imminent.  It was at least 105 degrees and I’d decided to spend the day helping the missionary, Katie Sasser, paint the gate of the compound.  So as of this moment in time, there are a few wrong things happening.  Let’s start with the fact that I don’t paint.  I have zero painting skills, and about the same amount of patience.  Wrong thing number two:  the decision to wear scrubs, thinking that they would “breathe better.”  Not so much.  Have you ever worn scrubs while painting in Kenya?  It can be described in the lovely words of Jim Gaffigan:  

“It feels like you’re standing in line at the DMV on the face of the sun.”

Thanks for that image, Jim.

The third wrong thing happening is my choice of music. Katie and I rocked some Herbie Hancock, Tears for Fears, and maybe even a little George Michael.  We were straight cheesing when it came to my shuffled Spotify playlist.  It wouldn't even have been so bad if it wasn't for the flock of children who gathered around us.  Tiny African girls dancing to Carless Whisper.  It was a sight to be seen.  

But in reality, it was also a good time for thinking.

Sometimes serving isn’t sexy.  Sometimes it goes completely unnoticed.  Like the little kid says in Bed Time Stories, we feel “underdemiciated.”

Sometimes serving isn't glamorous.  Sometimes it doesn't look cool on Instagram.  However, serving in the moments where the spotlights are off, and the cameras have quit rolling . . . those are the times when our character builds.  Those are moments where the real growth happens.  My dear friend Krystiana and I always discuss what we call the Tween moments. And I am not talking about a youth group for 11 and 12 year olds. It’s the moments of in-between that make up so much of serving the Creator. The moments when you feel like you're not making a huge impact.  The moments when you second-guess both your motives and your outcomes.  The tough nitty-gritty moments of serving.  

I was having a tweener moment while painting. 

“Really? Here I am in Africa, surrounded by all of this need and despair, and I’m painting a gate.”

And to be frank, the gate wasn't even looking that stellar.

But in that in-between moment, I felt like I was being told to embrace the moment.  Embrace the times where you don't feel yourself grow.  Embrace the times where it is tough to see the big picture of what we are doing.  Embrace the non-sexy serving.  Embrace the moment that is now.  

Be present in His presence.

Whether you're conquering the world or painting a gate.  Live life here.  

So I guess that’s what I did.  I turned on some Twenty One Pilots (my comfort music)  and I let the moment be the moment.  Because when I look back in ten years on my first Africa trip, the memory of standing with arms covered in Dutch Blue paint, jamming to Lane Boy with a schoolyard full of kids, will still be fresh in my mind.