In the trenches

Footers and foundation, when building you have to begin the right way. We have been digging trenches, holes, filling, and leveling our pad. We had to dig holes in Nicaragua four times the size of holes we would dig in the U.S. for the roof beams. They tell us we have to do it that way because of the threat of earthquakes. We realize that we are not building this to withstand the shaking in our lives or even in our country, however we are building something to withstand shaking like none of us are familiar with. Sometimes we have to forget what we know to be true and open up to a whole new way and a whole new truth. It is easy for me to follow a new way of building because i don't build normally, but there are things that i do well. It is hard for me to deny what i know to be "the right way" or "the truth" to be open to a new way or a different way so that I can build a foundation that will withstand the shaking and the unexpected natural disasters of another season. I most likely will not be here when the shaking happens, or when things come crashing down. I know I'm building this for people who could never build this themselves and for the next generation, so I'm building with the future in mind and others lives at stake.

For me I have learned to die to my needs and to my pride and when we leave here next week I will leave the best built structure possible with the resources and time available. I will leave my blood from scraped knuckles on the blocks, sweat from my brow on the dry and hard dirt, memories in the minds of impoverished children of the loco gringo who comes to see them every year, tears in the bed of a pick up truck as we drive through the dump (the closest thing I've seen to hell on this earth), and prayer for Sandy's ministry, the missionaries here, the beautiful children, and the country of Nicaragua.

Until next time...