Month: October 2021

Wow what an experience Costa Rica has been! In just 3 days a HOME has been built for not one but two families! It will be hard to put into words my thoughts and my feelings, but I will try to provide for everyone a play by play of each day!

Day one: From a slab of concrete to four wall frames being built and stood up. The start of a roof with half of the trusses put up and three open window holes just waiting for someone to look out of them. I got to spend time holding sweet baby Matias in the early morning when the walls began to be built. For this mama heart – I needed that time holding him. There is something about holding a precious baby, seeing your brothers and sisters in Christ work for God’s glory, and being in the presence of the Lord! I enjoyed singing in broken Spanish (of course) to Baby Matias before getting to work. I have never built walls before, but with much help from others – I can say I have now done that! After a yummy and needed lunch, the team got back to business and moved forward with the behind the scenes of painting the trusses, the trimming, and the exterior walls of the home. Today’s weather was great, spirits were high, and hammers were working hard!

Day two: From four walls frames to a fully enclosed home! Slap on some interior paint and add in the glass windows! From half the trusses being put up yesterday to a full roof with partial shingles today. Man… a lot of hard work went into today! I played several roles today – painter, cleaner, runner, etc. I enjoyed getting to play a part in several jobs over the course of the day which allowed me the opportunity to work with many of my co-workers. It amazes me the way God connects His people to work together for His purpose. During lunch, I spent some time playing soccer with the kiddos which was a lot of fun and brought me back to reality that these kiddos live in. Dirt roads, bare feet, the JOY of having a new soccer ball – this is very humbling. Again, the weather was great for, our teams were trekking along, and I walked away today amazed at how much work was completed within just these past two days!

Day three: From painted walls to trimmed and finished exterior and interior walls, from a few shingles to a fully shingled roof! From a concrete slab to now a beautiful home! Today was all about finishing up, wrapping up final touches to jobs, helping anyone and everyone that needed a runner, cleaner, or just support (sometimes literally holding them up). I enjoyed seeing the final product of three hard days of work, seeing the smiles on co-workers faces, and seeing the beauty of the relationships that had been built internally and with the families in the neighborhood. Today I got to hold sweet Isaac, another precious little boy that God just knew I needed for my mama heart. I prayed over his sweet soul, his future, and his family.

I would have to say again, words are hard. This is definitely a trip that you have to experience for yourself to fully understand the magnitude of the work that is done, but also to understand the amazing opportunity it is to serve a family for His glory. I am thankful for the chance to serve the Lord, to love on these families, and to go physically.

I am thankful for this time of Sabbatical. This time to serve, this time to grow in my relationship with the Lord, and selfishly the time next week to rest for my mental health. It has been a hard year – despite the pandemic, despite the changes in the world. The personal break from work – the mental break from some challenges in my personal life. This coming week I look forward to spending some much needing time with my son and my entire family as we get together for a time of fellowship and refueling.  God is good yall.

I am late with  posting  about my mini sabbatical  but better late than never.  I did my service project this year with Meals on Wheels and decided I wanted to do something different with them .  I wanted to see what goes on behind the scenes so I volunteered to work in the kitchen.  They were very happy to have me help and quickly put me to work.  First thing we have to do is put on our gear an  apron and net over our hair.   We have to be sure to grab the correct  hair net and not make the mistake of putting on a beard net on your head because that doesn’t work very well I found that out.   I helped with laundry consisting of towels and mitts they use everyday.  I only did laundry for a short period of time , going forward I helped with getting meals ready  for delivery.  They have a very well organized system. First group adds food in the tray they have a list that generates and tells them how many meals are needed on that particular day and which type of meals need to prepared.  Then the next person is in charge of the  machine that seals the trays.  The next person and myself had to make sure they were sealed properly so they did not leak and then I had to put them in the big warmers.   They have separate warmers that are sorted by meal type example puree, low sodium, ext.  When it got closer for pickup I helped Nelda , we waited for volunteers to show up and pick up meals, they handed us their number we would pull meals, put them in tubs and hand it to them.   Afterwards was clean up time .

They have everything pretty much planned perfectly each day.   I just helped in whichever area they needed me and I really enjoyed being able to lend a helping hand and seeing all of the volunteers that come in to help out in our community.   They have 1 gentleman who came in everyday with a smiling face. He has the rural route so therefore he had many meals to deliver.  The time I spent in the kitchen really opened up my eyes as to all the work that  goes on beforehand in preparation for everything to go smoothly for the meals to be cooked and prepared for delivery.  I was very happy to be a helper of people for our community it was very fulfilling and made my heart happy.

I had another project that happened to come up exactly during the time of my sabbatical do we call this timing??  My parents had  to have some work done in their 1 and only bathroom.   This was suppose to be taken care of in 4 days and  it lasted  throughout most of my sabbatical.  The shower area had basically a makeover.  A small portion of shower was suppose to be replaced but the dreaded word was discovered!  MOLD was discovered as they pulled tile off and had spread and so down to the stubs it went.   After Meals on Wheels I would go check on the progress that was being made each day  to make sure everything was going smoothly.   My  dad was also,  overseeing all  of the work being done.  Then I would take some meals to my mother  and sister who were at my other sisters house or I would pick up some food.   They had to spend the day there in order to have access to shower and a bathroom.  This was very difficult on my mother who would get confused and wanted to be home.  The shower was finally completed after 9 days was very exhausting but was grateful I had time off and being able to be there during this time.

I was also hoping to take this time also to help in my relationship with my younger sister but due to all the unexpected repairs it seemed like much progress was not made in this area.  My goal is to keep working at it and baby steps are being taken.  Hopefully one day through prayer and perseverance this will be accomplished.

I am very grateful and blessed  to work for our company who encourages us to serve in our community,  allows us to take time to work on our mind, body and soul and that we have opportunity to rest ourselves and recharge.

Blessings!