28 days later

So many things to say...First, I am firmly set in the belief you can learn something new every single day even if you don't realize it at the time. And from there I shall digress to random bits of wisdom (and foolishness):

Sabbath as rest. There have been times in my life where it is easy to forget to rest. This has been one of the first times where I have been putting out such a high output in such long spurts (~11 hours at least) with so much repetition ( typically 25/28 days are work). I have been back in the States for 4 days now. Resting. And now I am finally beginning to feel rejuvenated. Nothing profound. The responsibility is not just to yourself but to everyone you work with so that you can function as a team.

It is refreshing to meet anyone who in so many ways reflects backs your passions and frustrations. When I was leaving Haiti this time, I was blessed to have a nearly 7 hour conversation with such a person. It was a conversation that reminded me about how in all of the despair there are people who have hope. There is much work to do in bringing forth the kingdom of heaven, but we are not alone. There are other laborers who struggle shoulder to shoulder with us for Christ. And shockingly a cup of coffee was nowhere in sight.

Creativity is cultivated not genetic. A piece of rebar is a military press. A weird cistern can be a pool. When you run out of space on the floor, look up and imagine how you can pack even more stuff in the warehouse. There are at least a dozen different ways to get string through a 300 foot run of 4 inch conduit that's buried underground and filled with water and dirt. One of them involves two shopvacs and may surprise the unsuspecting with a shower.

You can unload a 40 foot container with a forklift, palletjack and 2 men in half the time it would take 10 men to achieve it by themselves.

While it's all well and good to practice the art of photography, unless you have a friend who also practices said art you're going to be woefully lacking in the profile picture department.

Life should be lived in such a way as every year brings new things that were not dreamed the year before. One year ago today I left Haiti to come back to Ohio State and go to RA training. And I was all ready to buckle down do work and get myself a diploma ASAP. And then I, in no time at all, listened to wise friends and emailed people who barely knew me to ask if I could learn from them. And then I'm in Mirebalais building a hospital. A proper hospital. Well I guess that degree can wait a few months. And I don't regret it for a second.

A metaphor: if each person is riding a log down a river but doesn't have a paddle they'll all go the same speed. And you'll look left and right and always see the same people. However the river is shallow and if you jump off the log you can drag it to shore and explore. And some people will float on down the river because they've gotta get to the ocean. Others will follow you and you can sit around a campfire and cook s'mores. When you put into the river again there will be even more people to meet. And you will have tales to tell.


Mirebalais Update: All roofs have been poured on Phase One buildings and the pouring of floors in these buildings is progressing rapidly. Tile has been going in rapidly and the quality is amazing. Primer coats are going up all over the building. The transformer arrived on site and has been landed. Now just to wait for extremely high voltage for permanent site power. Slowly but surely the site is having less and less mud every time it rains. We've dodged a couple of bullets with the hurricanes. Oh and driving forklift = awesome.

Pray: Health for all of the workers and their families as cholera is still a threat, and more than ever we're going to need good communication as our team gets larger and more volunteers are arriving on site.

Most importantly:

GO BUCKS!

It's 6:51 am...

So here I sit at the job site. It's 8:48 on Sunday morning and I've already been here for an hour and half. I'm not particularly picky about being awake or about being at the job site. Actually couldn't care less. I got an email this morning while I was dozing in the daybreak hours from a contractor saying they wanted to work today but they needed a room unlocked in order to work. So I rolled out of bed and headed to the hospital.

I was recently asked if I could see myself doing this for the next ten years. Not this project but similar projects. There wasn't a hesitation in my mind that yes I absolutely could do this at least for the next ten years. Most jobs I've had I finish at the end of the day and that is that. Here I want to eat, breathe, sleep this job.

I was also recently considering how I am standing on the shoulders of giants to be where I am now. Which is very cliche but bear with me. To say that I ended up here but coincidence or accident would be an understatement of huge proportions. To start my parents were constantly showing me what it was to be generous. If someone needed a place to stay for a weekend or week or three we had a room for them. If someone was moving and needed an extra pair of hands my dad was there without question. My mom is constantly giving rides to anyone who needs it. And numerous Texas sheet cakes and pasta salads have been made because people needed food or comfort when a loved one wasn't well. And if you ever need your kids babysat for a couple hours, a night, or a week, don't hesitate to call my mom. She'll figure out someway to do it. Want an innovative solution to your landscaping or how you're redesigning your kitchen? My dad is your guy. He will bring an aesthetic to the project that is unique and insightful. And that's what he likes to do with his free time. Don't bother trying to pay him. You need the best deal on something, anything? He'll find it. And then figure out how to knock off another 20%. He's that good. And that's his gift to you. Your car broke down? "Here take this one until you can get it fixed, we'll get by with one less car. No problem."

And then of course the fact that they encourage me to strike out and forge my own path and ignore traditional jobs and education. They're not worried about me finishing school. Their support is immense and they constantly encourage me to go forth and seek the Kingdom of Heaven. They're constantly praying for my protection and wisdom. "Hey Dad and Mom, I think Seth and I are going to go down to Joplin for the weekend to help out. What do you think?" "That sounds great. Call these people and see if you can crash on their floor on the way down." This is a regular interaction with them. I'm always surprised and blessed by their level of faith and trust that wherever I'm going God's hand is on it.

So all this to say:

Thank those people in your life whose shoulders you're standing on. And if you don't know who that is think about it for a while.

Find and surround yourself with people who encourage you to run passionately after your dreams.

Always give gifts to people. It will bless you more than you can know.

Pray for wisdom and patience. I really can't ever have enough of these two.

Ok so yea maybe this takes more work than I expected...

Well here I am a few weeks since my last update and y'all were probably wondering what happened to me. Quite a bit.

For starters, I am going to be working in Haiti through December. This has been a great opportunity for me to learn and lend my skills to this project. My project leads asked me to stay on for an additional semester because of the benefit to the project. So needless to say one of these years I will graduate from OSU. Probably just not as soon as I was planning.

As of this writing, Tropical Storm Emily has basically fizzled out. We were on high alert for 2 days but the most we got here in Mirebalais was a bit of rain and very slight wind from time to time. It was nice to get some rest during the week because normally we just go go go.

Also, I was back in the states last week. This gave me a bit of a chance to relax and restore after a good solid month of work. It was great to see everyone and if I didn't get to see you, I'll do my best to correct that next time I'm stateside.

Hospitalwise things are coming along nicely. Some of the shell buildings are at the point that we can start doing the interior work on them towards making them complete which is excellent. It's starting to look like we might get a hospital as a finished product.

Life lessons: there are a lot of people out there who want to do a lot of different things to help a lot of other people. And that's good that they want to help. But sometimes wisdom is needed to take a good idea and make it great, or to take good intentions and forge them into something completely different. And it's tough to listen to wisdom sometimes. It's much easier to over react and get involved with stuff up to my ears before I realize whether the stuff is honey or mud.

So yet again patience is a necessity. And humbleness to ask for help out of the mud when I sink myself in it. These are areas where prayer is appreciated. Thanks!