“Well, that was a wasted trip.” Those were the words I used to my wife after making a trip to Bloomington (which I don’t like doing) to go see someone in the hospital. When I got there after two other essential errands of returning tech equipment, the man was not in his room. When I asked a nurse, she was able to tell me he was in dialysis and would be for about 4 hours. Dialysis, in his case, is every other day come rain or shine. Little did I know Wednesday was one of the days. So now you have the reason for my comment to my wife. 

But as I thought about it more, was it really a wasted trip? Sure, I was able to return some equipment so there is that. I actually killed three birds with one stone. But beyond that is something even deeper. The man’s wife was nowhere around either so I texted her to tell her I had come to see ______, but he was in dialysis, so I would plan to come tomorrow. I knew I already had a lunch appointment in Bloomington with a man from the church who is considering a leadership position, so I figured I would kill two birds with one stone. 🙂  Shortly after, I received a return text from his wife and she said she went home “to wash the stink off her” but then was heading back over. But then came the words that have given me pause. Three times she said, “Thank you so very much.” 

Those words changed the course of my “this was a waste of time to come over here” thinking to “Maybe it wasn’t a waste of time.”  I let two people know (I left a note for him to see when he got back to the room) that I loved them and cared about them. You see, as a pastor, I’m also a shepherd. That is what the word means: pastor = shepherd. A pastor who doesn’t visit his people or care about their well-being either ought to change his title or quit the ministry. Some have already changed their title to “lord” or “boss” or “CEO” or some other ugly twist on their role. I  tried that CEO approach once. I was asked to leave since I was such a failure. God gave me a shepherd’s heart not a CEO’s heart. 

Please understand: I’m not tooting my own horn. I’m just letting you know that deeds done out of kindness and love, not drudgery or compulsion, are never wasted. Have you let someone know recently how much they mean to you by caring about them? Showing love is never a waste of time.