Our First week of ministry was one for the books….. Our team….. STREAM TEAM was in charge of pulling up duct tape and painting the REAP Basketball court for all of their basketball games/ clinics. Needless to say I myself grew a lot during this week as I had no idea just how much patience it took to help put together a basketball court!
DAY 1: We as a team had to clear off the court. Clearing off the court consisted of marking off the court from others wanting to play basketball, sweeping off the rock and dirt, and then taking a water hose to the court to remove extra dirt and rocks. Doing this helped clean the court as we prepared to pull up the old lines made out of duct tape. After using the water hose on the court, we had to wait on the court to dry. So we just sat around and waited……..WRONG….. Instead we found ourselves picking up hoes and HOEING up weeds and dirt near the front entrance. Everything we hoed up consisted of a hill that was making the water run onto the road. With that being said we had to flatten out the hill. It was hot, but it was very fun!
DAY 2: Now that the court was dry…. We are able to start STRIPPING up the old duct tape. When people say duct tape can fix anything they are not kidding….. We pulled up this duct tape for hours!!!! I have now come to appreciate how amazingly strong duct tape truly is and just how sticky it can be.
DAY 3:………………… We continued pulling up duct tape, but this time we received ACID and gloves. As a team we used the acid to put it over the tape in the attempt to pull up the tape easier….. IT WORKED after a few burns later.
DAY 4-6: We painted the court……… and painted the court…….. and painted the court……..did I happen to mention that we painted the court. I think the court has several layers of paint on it now. While painting the court we also had the opportunity to paint the REAP logo on the center of the court.
DAY 7: We painted on a cover for the court that was made to help keep the paint from peeling up off the court. After the paint sealer dried we could finally say we are finished!
What God was able to teach me this week:
Hoeing: When we hoed the land… YES it was a lot of hard work, but God was able to show me so much through that. God was able to show me how in life we might have a hill of dirt built up, relationships, baggage, family, and personal stories that make me who I am. Although we have all this in our life that makes up our hill when you say yes to God….. Sometimes he takes things out of your life and other times, he moves things/ priorities around to help teach you what he wants you to learn.
Stripping: When stripping up the tape….. It was not easy it was hard and time consuming, but God showed me even more through that. Sometimes in life we have been stuck to things that we find comfortable, safe, fun, and so much more. Needless to say God is taking stripping the tape out of my own life in many different ways. Some ways I didn’t even know I had tape stuck in the places I did, but God is slowly removing all those pieces of tape out of my life.
Acid: When using the acid God really hit me….. God has shown me that some things in my life need to be pulled up, need to be torn out of my life, and need to be cleaned up.
Needless to say God is growing me in so many ways. God is painting me new lines daily (quoted by Shelby), he is stripping up the unneeded tape in my life, he is removing things from my life with acid, and he is above all else teaching me how to truly be patient with myself and others.
