Funeral Home Flower Van

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests."  Luke 2:14

This year I worked at a funeral home in South Carolina for a few months.  Man, I loved that job.  It was an awesome experience that I'll always remember.

My boss let me try a little bit of everything.  This allowed me to get a feel for the job.  One task he let me take on was handling the flower van.

Here's how it went: When someone died, people bought flowers for the family.  The flowers would all be on display in the church or chapel when folks arrived for the funeral service.  Then, when the service ended, it was time to take everyone out to the cemetery for a graveside service.  The issue was that the same flowers in the church or chapel also needed to be displayed at the cemetery where people were about to go.  So some of us had to quickly load all the flowers in the flower van as soon as the service ended.  Then we swiftly drove to the cemetery, unloaded all the flowers, strategically placed all the flowers around the gravesite, parked the van out of sight, sprinted back to the tent where everyone was about to gather, and then stood under the tent to wait for the funeral procession to arrive.  It was a race to get everything done before the family and friends arrived.  We wanted everything looking nice, and usually we succeded.  Personally, I enjoyed the excitement that came with the funeral home flower van.  It felt good to get it done right.  And it felt good when my boss would arrive at the cemetery and give us a thumbs up!

It was vital to be in a hurry with our job.

But it's dangerous to be in a hurry every second of every day.

Bobby, my boss at the funeral home, understood this perfectly.  He expected me to hustle and give my best when I was on the clock.  But he also told me on a regular basis to get rest when it was time to go home for the day.  I always appreciated how he juggled the importance of productivity and peace.

Sometimes we all need to slow down, relax, and reconnect with God's peace.  Why?  Because He never intended for us to live in a 24/7 rat race where we constantly remain an uptight bundle of nerves.  Yes, there is a time to work hard and hurry.  Absolutely!  Especially if you are in charge of a funeral home flower van.  But there is also a time to ease off the pedal, slow down, and chill out.  Seasons of relaxation and calmness are needed in our lives.  May we maintain a healthy balance of work and rest in our lives.  A reasonable dose of both will do us all a lot of good.

My prayer is that the peace of God will cover and saturate us all during this Christmas season, and that you and I will enjoy times of rest and calmness with our family and friends over the holidays.

PS:  If you want to see the funeral home I worked at, just click HERE.