Illustration: Service

Fred Craddock was the visiting preacher at a church one Sunday afternoon when a van full of ragged teenagers pulled in. They looked in bad shape as they sat on their bedrolls, waiting for their parents to pick them up.

Craddock asked them what was going on. He learned they were returning from a week of mission work. They had joined other youth and built a little church.

"You tired?" he asked one boy.

"Whew, am I tired!" he said. "But this is the best tired I've ever felt." That is the reward of service--"the best tired I've ever felt."
(Craddock Stories, Chalice Press)