Do what you can with what you have....

Today, Father's Day, it looks like only a few members of the group (out of 35) made it to church. It was a hazy humid day in Minnesota and with the weather maybe it was a day to sleep in. It was also a day of rest from what was really a very hard week, for all involved. 

It was a hard week because there was a cobbled together feel to a lot of the assignments and some of them felt to some of us like a real stretch for a Christian mission -- never mind that we left behind grateful people everywhere we went this week. The tasks themselves were hard at times, like digging and loading 15-20 yards of dirt and sand and muck out of a creek and carrying up and out -- in plastic gallon pails. Try it sometime.

The week was also hard because we were in town, and our normal lives resumed every day at 4, from work and social and family obligations to meeting commitments made to soccer team mates for some of the youth. 

Looking back, though, I think it may have been one of the most rewarding mission experiences of the recent past. It reflected a commitment made -- and kept -- by teens living in community with each other. Yeah, there was an outbreak of crabbiness one day, but considering the week it was a mild case and was easily put behind us. 

I remember reading once about Teddy Roosevelt when he was a soldier in Cuba, upon hearing request for reinforcement. His quick response was "Do what you can with what you have where you are." So that is what we did. Just what we could, with the tools and skills we held in our hands, and where we lived. That was it, but it was enough to make this trip feel blessed by God and consistent with the aims we had for this trip when the planning got going way back in October. I am proud of all involved and grateful for the opportunity to be part of it. 

-- Lee, on Father's Day