It stressed me on a recent Tuesday evening when the president of our Southwest Minnesota Habitat for Humanity chapter called me to recruit volunteers in Luverne to work on the Habitat project in Luverne on Saturday morning. We do not have a volunteer coordinator yet for this project and do need one (Is anyone reading this hearing the call?). It would be nice to have more time to do this recruiting before it is needed. I shared the stress with our church outreach director, George H. Bonnema, and together we recruited the helpers. The stress comes from wanting to be a good Habitat board member representing Rock County and wanting the Luverne project to go well and be successful.One of my recent "Smart Question Coaching" sessions dealing with spirituality related to the area of service. Here’s how it went. I’ll give you the full text with a comment."We must constantly ask ourselves if what we are doing is going to make us and those around us happy. Because happiness is the ultimate goal. It is the goal of all goals." (quote from Deepak Chopra")I’m not sure that happiness is the ultimate goal. Something in that quote does not ring true to my soul. It may have to do with how you interpret happiness. In seeking to be a child and servant of God I may have to be and do that which does not lead to happiness. I would have to say that for Jesus the ultimate goal was to do the will of God.John 6:38, "For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of God who sent me."There is fulfillment and satisfaction in doing the will of God but whether it could always be described as happy I’m not sure. The cross does not appear to me to be a happy experience. Taking up my cross for Jesus may not always be happy either, though it will be satisfying and fulfilling as I live out the purpose of God for my life.Question your life: What are some ways you can be more in service?Coach’s Tip: What does service mean to you? Do you do it with joy or out of a sense of duty? Can you do it from love rather than from an attitude that it’s what you should do or what others expect you to do? Give and be in service unconditionally and feel the joy that can occur.The stress of the above situation for me came from the expectations of another and the desire to please or meet that expectation. Stress and anxiety almost always result when we are trying to please another or earn someone’s favor. This is why Christian salvation is so wonderful. It is by grace or unmerited favor. It is the gift of God and we do not have to earn it or live up to certain expectations to obtain it. All one needs to do is believe and receive it.Inspiration: Joy can be real only if people look on their life as a service, and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness. (quote from Count Leo Tolstoy) Jesus said, "Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?"