Day 3: Building, Painting, Playing, Loving
Blog written by Paige Davenport (age 20)
Student, Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego
8 am: (EXHAUSTION)
Our day started when we boarded our team bus sitting 5 to a row, sweaty bodies that smelled like bug spray, and embarked on our 1.5 hour adventure to a little piece of Heaven.
9:30 am: (ANTICIPATION)
As we exited the bus and entered into the humid heat wave I was already exhausted. One by one the littles emerged from their wooden homes and immediately caught my eye. I gathered a bunch of "niñas" and we walked hand in hand down to their school park to play soccer. Somehow we managed to play for an hour straight while only saying the words "aquí" (here) and "equipo" (team). They were so full of passion, love. joy and understanding for my horrible Spanish. They brought out the child in me as we laughed hard and smiled ear to ear.
12 pm: (IMPATIENCE)
When our team left to eat our lunch I really didn't want to go. I wasn't sure how to communicate with the niñas that I would be back, and didn't want them to think I was leaving for good. I had put it in my mind that I would scarf down my lunch so that I could continue playing ASAP! But then...a giant rain storm decided to join us. We were stuck in our shorts and t-shirts under a shelter area waiting out the rain.
1:30 pm: (JOY)
We finally decided to brave the rain and follow through on the job we came to do. As the rain came down harder some girls pulled me under shelter outside their homes. We huddled under some sheet metal held up by wooden poles and played there for about an hour. It didn't matter that we were freezing, that we were wet, that we couldn't understand each other, and pretty much everything I said to them ended with "muy bonita". It didn't matter that there were no toys to play with or that we were squished and standing in mud while water flooded around the house. None of that mattered. They were so full of joy and love for me and for each other. We laughed harder than you can imagine and sang a million songs in Spanish that I couldn't understand. And there was no place I would have rather been in that moment.
2:30 pm: (SATISFIED)
My sweet 5 year old, carry-on size, little, pulled on my shirt continuously. At first I thought it was because she didn't want to get her feet wet in the pools of water we were standing in. But as I held her and she played with my braids I realized that's all she wanted. Just to be held and noticed for a moment. Five minutes quickly turned into an hour and I soon had a sleeping niña in my arms. It was some of the most precious moments ever. Words can't describe the love and peace I know we both felt in that hour. Pure contentment. I'll never forget those sweet moments that will live on.
10:30 pm: (REFLECTION)
Sometimes we don't want to go where God calls us. It seems like a lot of work and maybe not worth the outcome. Along the way we'll get worn out and want to give up. We'll become impatient and want to do things our own way. But throughout today I've been reminded of God's perfect plan. He is thoughtful and cares about every detail of our lives. Our passions are his passions are are dreams are his dreams. In the end His ways always carry greater things than I could ever comprehend or plan on my own.
"He is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine" Ephesians 3:20