One afternoon a man came home from work to find total mayhem in his house. His three children were outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house.

Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she may be ill, or that something serious had happened. He found her lounging in the bedroom, still curled in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went.

He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?"

She again smiled and answered, "You know every day when you come home from work and ask me what in the world I did today?"

"Yes" was his incredulous reply.

She answered, "Well, today I didn't do it."

There is no doubt that those of us who are husbands tend not to appreciate all that our wives do (and the converse may be true at times as well). But I think we often do the same thing in the church as well. There are certain members whom we regard to be valuable because they are always visible, always in the spotlight.

There are other members whom we don't regard with the same value because the work they do is done quietly, behind the scenes. But the person who cleans the church building or fills the communion trays is no less valuable than the one who preaches or leads singing. And if we ever showed up one Sunday and none of those "little" things were done, we'd find ourselves in a state of confusion.

Paul described the church as a body and said that like a body has many parts, so the church has many members who all have different talents. But then he added this thought:

"Those parts of the body that seem to be the weaker
are really necessary."
(I Cor. 12:22, NCV)

I encourage you to take a look around you and find someone who is doing a job quietly, without recognition, and let them know how much you appreciate their efforts.