Home

It's good to be home. And yet, there's something I all ready miss about being at Casa. It's a sense of simplicity and purpose as well as the physical satisfaction of a hard day's labor. While we are there, we get up, work (digging ditches, shoveling dirt, mixing and pouring concrete, tiling bathroom walls, etc...), eat in the dining hall with the children (the food is good but no one cares what it is or complains because real work makes us truly hungry), we shower(or not) then play with the children for two hours in the afternoon (these children need nothing more than a ball, frisbee, or jump rope to have a really great time). The day at Casa concludes with a gathering together of the entire group where we sing a few choruses (some Enlish, some Spanish) and listen to a teen, youth intern, or other leader, give a short devotional reminding us that we are indebted to our creator for the opportunity to live, breathe, and just BE.

The first time I traveled to Casa I might've believe that I was bringing something to the children. I may have felt that they needed me or that I had something to offer them. I learned quickly, during that first visit, that the children had more to offer me than I could possibly bring to them. How could I ever impart strength, wisdom, character, or eternal knowledge to those who've been so blessed. I consider the children at Casa to be among the very elect, favored by God. While I am enslaved to all that surrounds me and must be purposeful about finding God's truths in all that I see, these little ones bask in the joy unspeakable that comes from relying fully on Christ. I must remind myself daily, even hourly, of God's hand in my life and of the fact that there's nothing I can do in and of myself. The kids at Casa learned early in life that they are at the mercy of something greater than they are able to control. They've been blessed with a keen understanding of the love, compassion, and mercy of a God who has not abandoned them in their time of need. I fail miserably when I find myself becoming discontent or wanting more in this life, when my Father has richly blessed me with so much more than I need. The kids at Casa have taught me that all my blessings are as a curse when I allow them to pull my focus away from the one from whom all blessings flow.

My mission now is to seek the simplicity and purpose here that I find when I travel to Casa. It's a physical trip. Tiring in a really good way. But the value in the journey is spiritual as I begin to apply these truths to my life back home.

grace

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