Stuff That Matters In Life

I woke up at 5:30am this morning to join the commuter traffic to downtown Los Angeles.

My appointment was at 8:30am at the County Assessor’s office to appeal my property tax assessed value. I wanted to get there by 8:00 to sign in. Not knowing how long it would take me with unknown amount of traffic, I estimated 2 hours, just in case.

I left my house in Walnut, CA at 6:18am (I never seem to be able to leave the house at my target time), and I arrived by 7:05am. That gave me plenty of time to drive around to look for parking.

The lot next to the building, and those in close proximity charged $3 for 15 minutes with a $20 maximum. I paid $12 maximum in a lot that was 3 blocks away. They were pretty long blocks, but it was a nice walk early in the morning, walking past the Disney Concert Hall and the Music Center.  I arrived back at the parking lot at 9:20am. So for almost 2 hours of parking, I was better off paying the $12 maximum than $3 for 15 minutes.

There was no place to sign in at 8:00am as it said on the paperwork when I arrived. I was the first one there before the door to the appeals room opened, so I sat outside with my reading material I brought along for this anticipated waiting period. By the time the door opened at 8:25am, there were 5 of ready to rush in. However, we were not called according to first-come-first-serve. Fortunately, I was called first, but the couple who should have been second was skipped, and the guy who came last was called.

The rest was uneventful. I will probably have to go back to appeal again. No big deal. But since I don’t go downtown very often, in fact, hardly ever at all, it was a bit of an adventure. If anyone knows of a cheaper parking lot close to 500 W. Temple, let me know for next time.

The material I brought to read while waiting was a newsletter from JEMS – Japanese Evangelical Missionary Society. We’ve supported their work of AACF in the past, so we get their newsletter. I was particularly inspired by the testimony of Rachel Ogimachi who talked about her short term mission trip this past summer to Paraguay.

Rachel said she expected God to do something big and dramatic, but it turned out to be rather ordinary. But the words of Mother Theresa kept running through her head: “Do small things with great love.” The work of the pastor and his family who were there in Paraguay to reach the Japanese community for Christ exemplified this. The church comprised of 17 adults, and once a month they drive 6 hours to lead a service for 7 adults. Nothing glamorous, yet certainly not easy. And they continued in this work with love.

“Do small things with great love.” I wish I did some great things in my life. But small things done with love add up together to make a difference. Someone said, “Do not seek to be important. Seek to make an impact.”

That’s what I want my life to be.