We are getting ready to finish a housing project in rural Nicaragua. Twenty-five more families will soon be moving from mud and stick "homes" to stable cement block homes- homes that will be the answer to decades of prayers. It truly is amazing.
I had the great honor of having four groups to Nicaragua this summer, helping work on the homes. Each of the 25 families that will be receiving a home must send a representative to work on the project at least two days per week. However, with each project there are always a handful of guys that come work on the homes every day.
Spending four weeks at the project, I came to know many of the workers pretty well. Some have become good friends that I have stayed in contact after my return to the States. Technology makes this so easy!
Not only did I build relationships with the workers, I had the great joy of getting to know the kids that live near the project. Eight-year-old Eduardo (in blue) and six-year-old Maria (in yellow) came to see me each day after school. We played ring-around-the-rosie and London bridge is falling down a few times. They loved taking pictures and looking through endless amounts of photos on my phone. They absolutely have stolen my heart.
My last day at the project on my final trip of the summer, Eduardo, Maria, and their cousin (in the center) literally tackled me and gave me a huge, forever-long bear hug. I cannot share how much this overwhelmed me with indescribable emotion. Their faces have now taken over the background of my laptop and my work computer, allowing me to see them everyday. I can be having a stressful day where I just want to crawl in a hole, but as soon as I look at their faces, my heart is overcome with the deep love I have developed for these cuties. I have no doubt that they can save any bad day from here to eternity.
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