Today I worked on a house in Santa Ana for one of the guards, Juan, at the children's home, Casa de Esperanza. Building this house for him is basically giving him a $50 per month raise (big money in Hondo) because he no longer has to pay rent on where he was living. So that was a pretty cool thing to get to do.
At first, there was way too many people on such a tiny plot of land, so I just chilled in the truck for a while. Eventually I got up and decided to at least be spiritually productive, so I went to Los Arcos and had some papas fritas and a Fresca while I read my Bible. I focused on the Psalms, particularly Psalm 139, which I've decided to read every day to remind me that I am a work of art that God has signed and knows me inside and out AND that every other person on the face of the planet is too. That really refueled me to go out and focus on seeing people as Jesus would, and I tried for a while, and it really did a number on my perception and set me at so much more peace. I really feel like God is working hard on my heart here.
All of the others eventually came to Los Arcos later for pupusas, and I got to sit and eat with a guy named Kevin and we had what turned out to be a pretty awesome conversation. At first we just talked about college and seminary and learning Greek and Hebrew and all of that stuff (which really bores me to talk about), but then we got into plans for our lives, and that was awesome. I mentioned that I was a Missions and Graphic Design double major, but that I was thinking of switching Missions to regular Bible. He talked about how beneficial he thinks it is for groups to see this side of life, which I agreed to but said that I didn't think it was for me, long-term at least, and that I wanted to do church plants in the States. What a coincidence it was, then, that that is exactly what Kevin is doing right now. So we talked about that for a little while, and then we headed back to the house.
At first, I was thinking that this group was not exactly the personality types I enjoyed getting along with. But once I went back to the house and committed to work alongside them (even if there were too many people, I was tired of sitting around), I realized that I REALLY liked this group. The older people are very kind, and the three younger girls were fun and nice as well. It was a small group, but it was a group of brothers and sisters in Christ nonetheless; and once I kept that in mind, I had an awesome day. I did a good bit of the roof with Kevin and Luis and Mark Halbert, and then the wall with the girls. And once we finished, I can honestly say that it was one of the best Hondo houses I've ever worked on. I was very proud of it. And then I found out it was a house in memory of Rick's (one of the older guys from Tupelo) father, and that just made it even better.
What a great day.
Then we came back to the apartments, cleaned up, and went to the mall. I found an opportunity to go off by myself (alone time is good after living with 8 other people for a month) and had some Popeye's (yes, I do love Popeye's chicken and biscuits even though I realize I am white). I walked around for a bit, got some Espresso Americano (ohhhhh yes), and then talked with Terri, Matt and Nicole for a while. After that, I couldn't find the others (I think they left), and my phone was out of minutes; but, honestly, I was pretty okay with that, and so I just went out, caught a cab, and came back to the apartments to watch another Louie Giglio talk and maybe go to the Nashville group's devo in a little while.
Dios es bueno, todo el tiempo. Y todo el tiempo, Dios es bueno.
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