Tuesday - Sept 30th

Man was I tired this morning! The last two mornings I’ve been able to wake up and others are getting up and moving about, but today that was not the case. I didn’t set my alarm and didn’t wake up until someone woke me up as breakfast was starting. After our morning time most of the team went back out to the site. My main goals was to find a good orientation for the main cluster of buildings (school, admin, MP) The formal architecture warrants placing the buildings at right angles to form a center plaza/courtyard space but last night it was hard to imagine how it would work out as we couldn’t remember the topography and exact views. Getting back out on-site was awesome! After about 15 minutes standing out there and trying to visualize a solution, God revealed it to me. He set it up so well! The way the flat area of topo is oriented, there are 3 awesome views, all set up at right angles. Exactly what I needed! It was so great realizing this and got me pumped about the design. Praise God! It’s one of those times were I feel like the site and buildings were intended for this location and will fit excellently.
After a few hours on-site we came back for lunch. Tammy was there with Jordan and was talking architecture with Jane and Tom. She also brought her cook named Charita to stay with us for the week, so bring back the authentic cuisine! Bill is apparently really sick, so he stayed home. Hopefully he can rest up and get back with our team as his input is invaluable during this process!
I spent the afternoon drafting on a computer, as we now had the topo for main portion of the site. The plan is coming along well, and the site is working nicely.
After dinner we had a couple more testimonies, and I was able to share mine. I never really think of my story as all that exciting – especially having followed a guy named Sam who came to know Christ in Korea despite being surrounded by a family and entire village of Buddhists and ancestor worshippers. After I was done I was thinking about my story and feel like I need to change my perspective from my story being uneventful (because it’s not filled with big drama or struggles) to one of God’s grace, provision, and blessing!
Tonight is the first time my stomach is a bit upset, interesting as yesterday was the most American food we’ve had so far. Go figure. Actually for lunch we had some type of red stewish stuff, so that may be the culprit. It’s not too bad at this point and I don’t think it’s anything serious.
After most of the team had headed to the rooms, Jane and I were up drafting in the common area while Charita was cleaning the kitchen. She soon joined us at the table to sort and prepare some black beans for upcoming meals. Tammy had mentioned she was so excited to come and serve our team, but also very nervous because she didn’t speak any English. Charita seems so nice and outgoing and she was chatting a bit with Jane, who speaks pretty good Spanish. I was at the far end of the table, and was participating a little while typing up some journal entries.
After a while there was a knock on the door, and Charita’s friends showed up with some meat for us. Gabi and Jorge own a carneceria in Tuxtla, which they visit once a week, and were stopping by on their way back down to Arriaga. They were so nice and it was fun trying to converse with them, telling them about Colorado and how people visit for the mountains and snow. They kinda made fun of me for saying “sabo” instead of ‘se’ and said I was like a little kid learning Spanish but that it was good I was practicing. Oh well haha. Now intentionally saying ‘sabo’ is a running joke with Charita, along with counting thousands of black beans. It was so cool interacting with them in a fun context (not the airport) and again inspired me to improve my Spanish. My listening skills are so bad!
God continued with the mountain metaphor today, reminding me of the name of the ranch. With the realization yesterday that the ranch was in the palm of His hand, He reminded me the ranch will be called el Ranch del Alfarero – the Potter’s Ranch. It totally fits! The kids will be delivered into the palm of the potter’s hand to be molded and transformed into the people God intends them to be! Amen!