Chad Gill estimates that we poured 36,000 pounds of concrete in three days. I’m just going to let that sit with you a minute—sit with you like a pile of beautifully leveled second-story, hand-crafted, special-ramp-delivered concrete. Eighteen tons, one wheelbarrow and bucket at a time. I’m sure there’s a metaphor for life there, but I can’t think of it right now because, well, eighteen thousand tons.
I wrangled wheelbarrows and their humans around a tricky corner of the roof most of today. That was definitely a cushy job, but I wanted to keep it so Shirley and I could keep asking each other questions about sisters and dancing and pups who need haircuts with scissors and whether it makes us sad that our trees don’t have so much fruit (well, it didn’t until NOW!). Did I say this yesterday? I also found out that even though the chickens wander around the community, at night they just all go back to their own homes! (Again, imagine the pantomime on that exchange.)
But the best view from the roof was the intergenerational work that New Life does so well. Kids, parents, grandparents, friends, and aunts all mixing with El Tigre kids, parents, grandparents, friends, and aunts. Our big sisters teasing their little brothers. Our moms rubbing the shoulders of their moms. Our pastors trading stories. Siblings pulling the wheelbarrows their parents were pushing.
We gave our friends some gifts individually selected for each of them as well as congregational gifts for their kitchen, construction, and children’s ministry. But I cannot describe the gift they gave us other than to say their pocket of Costa Rica feels like another home.
Words are making a collage in my head, so I’ll try to paste them down here: perseverance, ingenuity, strength, humility, service, gratitude, leadership, generosity, joy, encouragement, flexibility, friendship, hospitality, grace, curiosity, bravery, laughter, hugs, faith, connections, humor, and hope.
We are not alone in this timeless adoration of the God of the Universe. We are partnered with friends in El Tigre; God looked down on Day 6 and said that it was good. Goodbye was hard—our hugs were strong as coffee, and our memories will be sweet as fried plantains.
