A Day in Two Words
Gathered in a large circle for our nightly processing and debriefing session, our team was asked the question, “What one word describes your day?”
My mind rapidly ran through everything that happened that day until two words popped into my head.
First, strength.
From the way my back and arm muscles ached, I could feel strength running through my body. Our team had exhausted ourselves with hard core manual labor for hours. We spent the day at a community outside of town called Apanas. Our purpose this day was to build blocks. Every church, school, house, and project that the mission builds is constructed out of cement blocks, and each cement block is made by hand with a touch of tender loving care.
The Nicaraguan block-building process doesn’t involve a truck with cement, a home depot, or a credit card. Just shovels, a bag of cement, piles of sand and gravel, and one really shaky, noisy machine that pops out bricks three at a time. At the end of the day, our blistered hands, sunburned arms, and sore backs had confirmed that we had indeed made 192 blocks. Though physically exhausted from mixing and shoveling heavy cement all day long, we felt strength in accomplishing really hard work, knowing that those bricks would soon form the foundation for a new church or school or home – all in the name of Jesus.
Then, joy.
The highlight of my day was in the middle of the morning when we only had three shovels and four people. Me, being the fourth person, tried to find a way to help until I realized that I was just getting in the way. Looking up, I saw a group of boys watching us, a soccer ball sitting at between their feet. I took off my work gloves, went over to them, and asked if we could play futbol together. We kicked the ball playfully back and forth on the dirt road until quite a large group of children had gathered. “To the field! To the field!” They cried out excitedly, and I followed them at a brisk jog to the uneven, trash-covered pasture with a dirt road running right through the middle of it and a goal make of three sticks on each end of the field. With the hot sun shining down on us, we punted off to start the game…me, the gringa, and all the Nicaraguan kids.
It was by far the most fun and hilarious game of soccer in my entire life, and I would not trade it for the world. We were laughing so hard, cheering one another on, and running until our chests hurt from panting and our faces hurt from smiling.
After half an hour of playtime, it was time for a quick lunch break. In Nicaragua, we get an hour or two lunch break, but it only took our team five minutes to each lunch before we all hit the soccer field for the second half of the game.
Oh the joy I saw on the faces of those dark-skinned, bright-eyed children. And oh the joy that shone on the faces of the white college kids playing with them.
Such joy. Such strength.
Even at the end of the day, after the 192 blocks, after the sweat, after the exhaustion, our team did not wear out. Whenever we were not working hard, we were playing hard. Instead of calling it quits and resting in the shade at the conclusion of our task for the day, our team was out on the streets playing with the kids until the very last minute. I saw Kevin kicking the soccer ball back and forth with a fan club of children. Shhun pushed three kids around in a wheelbarrow, which filled the dusty air with jubilant laughter. Dustyn had a child in her lap and another snuggled up against her side. When I looked at all of them, I didn’t see the fatigue that should have been there. Instead I saw joy and a strength that was not too tired to play, not too tired to give, not too tired to love.
Joy. Strength. I tried to decide which word to share before I realized that they were one and the same. “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10) This verse settled deep into my heart and found a home that fit just right. As I reflected on my day spent building blocks and playing with children at Apanas, I realized that I have always heard that verse, but now I know what it actually looks like. Not only that, but I know what it feels like.
Like making blocks, we work hard to labor for the building of the kingdom of God. But there is always time to lay down the shovel – lay down the work – and love on the people around us, for it is there that the kingdom is really built. It is there - in the faces of God’s kids – that we come to know God and the joy that only He brings.
“The joy of the Lord is your strength.”
My mind rapidly ran through everything that happened that day until two words popped into my head.
First, strength.
From the way my back and arm muscles ached, I could feel strength running through my body. Our team had exhausted ourselves with hard core manual labor for hours. We spent the day at a community outside of town called Apanas. Our purpose this day was to build blocks. Every church, school, house, and project that the mission builds is constructed out of cement blocks, and each cement block is made by hand with a touch of tender loving care.
The Nicaraguan block-building process doesn’t involve a truck with cement, a home depot, or a credit card. Just shovels, a bag of cement, piles of sand and gravel, and one really shaky, noisy machine that pops out bricks three at a time. At the end of the day, our blistered hands, sunburned arms, and sore backs had confirmed that we had indeed made 192 blocks. Though physically exhausted from mixing and shoveling heavy cement all day long, we felt strength in accomplishing really hard work, knowing that those bricks would soon form the foundation for a new church or school or home – all in the name of Jesus.
Then, joy.
The highlight of my day was in the middle of the morning when we only had three shovels and four people. Me, being the fourth person, tried to find a way to help until I realized that I was just getting in the way. Looking up, I saw a group of boys watching us, a soccer ball sitting at between their feet. I took off my work gloves, went over to them, and asked if we could play futbol together. We kicked the ball playfully back and forth on the dirt road until quite a large group of children had gathered. “To the field! To the field!” They cried out excitedly, and I followed them at a brisk jog to the uneven, trash-covered pasture with a dirt road running right through the middle of it and a goal make of three sticks on each end of the field. With the hot sun shining down on us, we punted off to start the game…me, the gringa, and all the Nicaraguan kids.
It was by far the most fun and hilarious game of soccer in my entire life, and I would not trade it for the world. We were laughing so hard, cheering one another on, and running until our chests hurt from panting and our faces hurt from smiling.
After half an hour of playtime, it was time for a quick lunch break. In Nicaragua, we get an hour or two lunch break, but it only took our team five minutes to each lunch before we all hit the soccer field for the second half of the game.
Oh the joy I saw on the faces of those dark-skinned, bright-eyed children. And oh the joy that shone on the faces of the white college kids playing with them.
Such joy. Such strength.
Even at the end of the day, after the 192 blocks, after the sweat, after the exhaustion, our team did not wear out. Whenever we were not working hard, we were playing hard. Instead of calling it quits and resting in the shade at the conclusion of our task for the day, our team was out on the streets playing with the kids until the very last minute. I saw Kevin kicking the soccer ball back and forth with a fan club of children. Shhun pushed three kids around in a wheelbarrow, which filled the dusty air with jubilant laughter. Dustyn had a child in her lap and another snuggled up against her side. When I looked at all of them, I didn’t see the fatigue that should have been there. Instead I saw joy and a strength that was not too tired to play, not too tired to give, not too tired to love.
Joy. Strength. I tried to decide which word to share before I realized that they were one and the same. “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10) This verse settled deep into my heart and found a home that fit just right. As I reflected on my day spent building blocks and playing with children at Apanas, I realized that I have always heard that verse, but now I know what it actually looks like. Not only that, but I know what it feels like.
Like making blocks, we work hard to labor for the building of the kingdom of God. But there is always time to lay down the shovel – lay down the work – and love on the people around us, for it is there that the kingdom is really built. It is there - in the faces of God’s kids – that we come to know God and the joy that only He brings.
“The joy of the Lord is your strength.”
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