Blessed to be a Blessing

Thursday was our real last work day. We got up early, had breakfast, and got to work. Some of the group finished up the garden while the majority worked on various parts of the house. We had some people mixing stucco, others spreading the stucco, and a few people putting up the wood that made up the exterior walls of the house.

A special moment occurred while I was watering some of the new herbs that we had planted. Two of the cutest and sweetest little boys happened to not be at school both of the days that we were in Volcan. On Wednesday, our entire group got to meet them, and play basketball with them. But, for some reason I felt a special attachment to them. So, in my incredibly broken Spanish I asked them to help me water the plants. I think what I said translates into something like “you help me water plants ok?”, but somehow they understood. Even though they turned out to be the worst little gardeners imaginable they were both willing to try and help. So, for a while we tried to water the plants until one of the little boys decided that it would be more fun to just throw the water at me. I don’t think I can even begin to explain what that moment meant for me. It was then, in the middle of a water fight with two six year old boys that I realized how important the work we were doing was. I realized that the impact we made was not something that was immediate (in most cases), in some cases the impact will never be physically visible; however, we were fulfilling one of the greatest commandments. We were showing love to our neighbors. We were showing the love of Jesus Christ through our actions. In looking back, that was the moment when I really understood what the trip was about. It hit me that the trip was really NOT about me, AT ALL. Yes, God was using us to do his work, but he could have called upon anyone to be his vessel.

 After we finished our morning work and ate lunch we had a devotion entitled “Blessed to be a Blessing”. We talked about what a blessing really is, and how we are called to use our true blessings to serve others. That night, we drove back to Cieneguita and slept there before our drive back into the city on Friday.