First off, there have been longs weeks of work- yes, time in the evenings to do things, but we have been working 6 day work weeks so the spare time I became accustomed to in Haiti has become a memory of the past. At first I really was annoyed at the lack of "spare time" but the Lord had something to teach me about selfishness through it all- when Saturdays rolled around, I would wake up and have to come to grips that today was not the "day off" but rather another day of work. Why can't I have time for myself? Why is it that we put so much time in for these customers and their happiness and satisfaction, when we ourselves are just getting worn out?
However, as the Lord worked on my heart, I realized how very much selfishness I had inside- though it might not be the best thing to wear yourself out for a job, this was at the least a lesson for me. I was thinking about "Me, me, me!!" and not wanting to be a blessing to others.
The second came one day when I was planning on staying home to stain a bunch of trims and doors- it would have been nice to spend time in our basement listening to music, preaching, etc, and just stain trim... but then Dad informed me that Ry would be doing that and I would be going out to the job site with Josh and him. Unfortunately, my response in my heart was not a good one- isn't it amazing how self can be cloaked in such "good" motives? I didn't say anything outwardly, but inside I was not pleased at all! As I began to resign myself to the fact that I couldn't have my way I realized how selfish I was being... as the conviction came, my heart started to break and see itself as it was; petty and selfish, not wanting to give others the best and take the low road myself.
I determined right then and there to make a point in the future to take the jobs others didn't want and try my best to bless others rather than myself... great commitment, right? :)
Ah yes, I am so thankful our Heavenly Father knows our frame, that it is but dust- the rest of that day was fraught with times and opportunities for me to live that out- only for me to fail multiple times! At the end of the day I realized how much I had to grow in the area of selfishness!
And such is life on this earth :) and such is life with Christ- a continual process of sanctification and growing in grace and the knowledge of Him. May our love for Him motivate our actions to be obedience to Him and seek to serve Him in a more acceptable way today than yesterday...
Anyhow, that's some of what I've been learning in the school of life recently :) Onward to the pictures, then! :)
In other news...
I have applied for a 2 week-long medical course (Missionary Medical Intensive, or more commonly known as "MMI") and received my acceptance letter the other day! I'm very excited to take this next step to hopefully be able to go back to Haiti as a clinic worker in the next 2 years or so...
On my way to work one morning... :)
My cousin Ben cut the tip of his finger off with a table saw one day at the job, so I was elected to run him to the ER- it spiced up an otherwise "normal" work day ;)
Thanks Ben :)
And here is some of what we were doing that next day- hardwood flooring!
Mom visiting and bringing us lunch!
Ah yes, the outside of the job....
Some of the the infamous trim I thought I would be staining :)
After putting the floor in we were installing some cabinets.
The end of a long day of work! Ben and I were walking around outside, double checking the cleanup, while Dad and Don packed up the equipment.
A half-day's work of labor:
We built the wall on the left side of the stairs, put a floor over it, built a railing and drywalled it.
Now the customer will have more storage space! :)
And finally, we began trimming everything out last Friday!
It looks pretty good, in my opinion- mostly because we've been learning from neat tricks from Don about finish carpentry :)
God bless you all! Keep Him first!
-nate
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