Day Four, Thursday-- "The Happy Working Song"--Disney, from the "Enchanted" Soundtrack
Thursday saw our group back together again, working as one unit on the fitness center outside wall. On Wednesday, the team that was there had painted a fascia about 4 feet high that went along the top of of the wall. They had to paint most of it from the roof, and from the heat we felt working on the ground, it must have been blistering up there. But we now had the entire wall to paint, along with a second smaller piece of wall and an entrance way that was going to be white.
So we split into three teams: big gray, little gray, and white. Zach was quick to claim leadership of team big gray, but he lost it again after about 20 minutes. You see, it was a brick building, and we were painting with rollers, so it was really hard to get in the spaces between bricks. Zach was given responsibility for filling in behind the rollers. I think he really ceded his leader position after one too many jokes about how he needed to "take care of" someone's crack. :-)
Once the real leadership was established (Evan had team big gray oversight), we all got to work a little more seriously. I use that term lightly, though, as all of the teams were having a great time (even though the other teams were losing!). It was so hot that all we could do was think of ways to entertain ourselves to take our minds off of the fact that we were melting. So we sang. Disney songs. Lots and lots of Disney songs. To the extent that more than one fitness center customer went inside shaking their heads in wonder (at least I can't think of anything it would have been besides wonder). But we all found new levels of talent within each other. I truly believe that no other group besides a church group can sing so well. I mean, we make it a practice to sing every week together in worship, so it would just make sense that we would sing good together outside of church, too. No other groups can claim that. Just listen to them sing happy birthday at restaurants (I stole that example from Mark Gungor, but it is true).
After work, we went back to the cultural center. Herb had invited us to lunch today. When we got there, we realized just what he meant. He woke up at 4:00 AM to start preparing the meal, and he closed the center, his means of income, for the day just to host us. We were awed by his generosity and his desire to spend some time with us, and we hadn't even tried the food yet.
Herb had indeed prepared a feast for us. Using traditional Apache methods and spices (including the acorns that we had seen on Tuesday), he made dumplings, stew, frybread, and Apache tamales. He also prepared an iced tea that used herbs that promoted cleansing. His aunt, who looked like the traditional picture of ancient Indian women, had helped. But they made it all in the back patio of the cultural center. Their BBQ pit was literally on the ground, and there was a sense of authenticity and tradition that permeated the place. It was really cool. And the food was amazing.
For VBS today, we moved to another neighborhood on the reservation. Believe it or not, this park was even less happy than the first place. Here, the slide on the playground had been burned to the point that it was just a melted, charred, mess of plastic. The glass here was even more abundant. The basketball court was fenced, but there were so many holes in the fence it just made it look violated. And there was no shade except one canopy that we brought with us.
The neighborhood kids echoed the park. There were still lots of kids, but this time they were "harder." The kids didn't open up as quickly, preferring to keep a tough, macho exterior through the lesson and the craft. It wasn't until game time, when we all poured our hearts (and copious amounts of water) into them, that they really started to show the joy we had seen in the other group. But once that happened, the same miracle we had been a part of at the other neighborhood started working here. And we were all immersed in it fully this time. In fact, the time there passed so fast, I don't think any of us wanted to be done when it was time to head back into town.
The camaraderie we had enjoyed through the day continued into the evening. At dinner, Tory and I ogled the Legos catalog while Rachel and Evan laughed at us. Zach, by virtue of his strapping good looks (You are welcome :-)), was linked to Evan as his nephew by one of Tory's kids. That turned into great laughs for the rest of the week when we realized that Kaitlin might then be his mom!
After dinner we went to Dairy Queen where we met some of the teens that have broken through some of the despair thanks to the ministry out there. The best part of that trip was all of us running full speed out the doors and into the cars to hide from Katie and Shelby, who had gone to the bathroom.
For our debrief that night, instead of the normal lessons learned, we drew names and wrote letters of encouragement to our fellow teammates, seeing as how we had one more day of labor and VBS to go.
That night saw the biggest gathering of us outside to look at the stars. The meteor shower was in full swing, so we all got to see a few really good shooting stars against the backdrop of the Milky Way, all the while having some good conversation about movies, theories, and life in general.
Looking back, I think my lesson for today was about perseverance, patience, and endurance. When we were working, especially at the beginning of the day, it seemed like we were making such small progress that we would never be done. At Herb's, we learned about how you have to wait for the acorns to cure before you can process them to make the spice. At VBS, we had to persevere through the lesson and craft before the kids really opened up to us. And watching for shooting stars is all about patience.
None of today was done on a timeline that I could control. I was certainly part of the action, but the timing was all governed by God. I just had to jump into the action, and let His timing control the pace. Once again a lesson about putting myself under His control. Even if it seems that things are not going as easily as it should, just trust Him. His time is coming, and the results will be better than you can imagine.
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