And then there was mud

We went to our first building site yesterday. This is the rainy season in Honduras so the ground was soft. Too soft. Each step we took on the building site felt like twenty. It was as if there were a crowd of people beneath us eager to rip the shoes from our feet and pull us down to join them. Several of us had to dig ourselves out before we could walk from place to place. I could help but think that people would pay money to play volleyball in this stuff.
One blessing came to us with the soft earth. Digging, usually the most arduous part of a build, was easy. Our post hole diggers bit into the ground with a ravenous hunger so we finished our holes in record time. The erratic machine gun staccato of hammers driving nails soon filled the air as Carmen, a mother of three watched her home materialize.
Mark Connell, our wild haired TORCH representative, kept the mood light assuring us each wall was the best wall ever built. Our floor was also the best. And our window. And our roof. As chainsaws chewed through the last sliver of wood holding Carmen's door closed we gathered around the house. Carmen and her family joined us inside for prayer.
Presenting a home to a family is a sweet sweet moment. Many of the things we do her carry with them  the slightest hint of sadness. Praying with a sick child, carrying food to hungry people, treating the sick in a clinic, or playing with children in an orphanage all are extremely fulfilling but they sometimes leave you with the impression that you've only lifted a grain of sand from a beach of need.
Nine of our group spent the day at the Mi Esperanza warehouse sorting clothing and boxes so that we would have them with us throughout the week. After we returned to Julio's, our little home in Santa Ana, we all realized the sum total of their labor. Box after box was pulled from the bus and carried away. Some were extremely heavy but Kevin Price had the answer. Put the box on a shoulder and run! A humbling thought. Each box resting in our arms or on our shoulders held answers to the prayers of many people we'd soon see.
After cleaning up and eating some amazing Lasagna we piled back into the bus and traveled to a huge statue of Jesus for a joint devotional with Tim Hines' group. We returned to Julio's at ten thirty thoroughly exhausted yet completely inspired.