My parent’s have built three of the homes that we have lived
in. One of my most distinct memories about the building process occurred on
Friday nights – at least I think it was Friday nights, but I could be wrong looking
back so many years later. My dad usually began working on the house immediately
after he had finished his day job. My mom would pick us kids up from our after
school activities and then we would swing by Domino’s Pizza. We delivered the
hot and fresh pizza directly to our new home. We would sit on 5-gallon paint
buckets around a card table in what would eventually become the dining room.
After dinner we would all work – it was most definitely a family project,
although my parent’s probably did the most work.
Today we once again helped at the construction site for the
new children’s home. We used bucket lines to pour the concrete stairs inside
the building. About 10:00 a.m. we saw the vehicle with the children from the
children’s home pull up. They had the day off school so they came over to help.
They jumped right in and helped pass the empty buckets back to the “filling
station”. It was so fun to see
them helping in the construction of their new home. I like to think that they
know exactly what is going on – they know that this is their new home. A home
of love and safety. A place to know and be known. A place of pride. You should
have seen these children, they were working just as hard as we were.
The difference between me helping build our homes and the
children helping build their home is that I have been part of my family for a
long time and some of these children are still relatively new to their family.
My family remained consistent; the children’s family is constantly changing.
For example, on Tuesday Erik was sent back to his parents by the local
government here in the Philippines. They are constantly adding and subtracting
children.
so thankful for the blessings of growing up in America, but I am also thankful
that these children have SO many that love them; they are always being cared
for by many including their houseparents.
This month they have eight addition ‘ates’ and four additional ‘kuyas’,
meaning older sisters and brothers, looking after and loving on them. What a
blessing for these children to know they are loved, even though their family
may not sit around a card table eating Domino’s Pizza on 5-gallon paint
buckets.
