Our time in Nicaragua has been spent doing mostly construction. We have moved over 2,500 bricks, some piles multiple times. We have moved dirt to different piles on many occasions. I have shoveled more rocks than I would ever dream to. We have made mud for a house we are building for a single mom and her seven year old daughter. We have grown close to our pastor and her family. This month has been a constant amount of work with construction and church services every evening, but it has brought so much joy to all of us.
I have learned not to take for granted the little things in life. Doing your laundry is quite difficult by hand. After it took me 2.5 hours to wash all my clothes and when they were dried, they could stand up on there own, I will never take for granted a washer and dryer again. There was times after doing construction all day when we would get back to our church and the water was randomly shut off and we would have to wait to shower off our dirt till the next day. Or the fact we spent a whole day moving 2,500 bricks by hand, when in American we could of moved all those bricks with a fork-lift in about half-hour. Many times it would take a whole day or multiple days to complete a task just because of the lack of materials or equipment.
These things are so small, but as Americans we get used to having these simple things handed to us. We can get construction work done in a rapid speed because of materials and equipment. When we don't get things done in a fast time period, people get mad. If the water is ever shut off, the water companies receive an abundance of angry phone call. If our washer and dryer breaks down, we go to the laundry mat or friends house. Many times these inconvenience steal our joy.
This month I was taught to find joy in all situations, even in the inconveniences that have happened. Joy is something that takes work. It can be hard to find the joy in moving a mountain of bricks to a new pile 100 feet away or washing your clothes for over 2 hours. Joy is all about how you look at a situation. Next time you are facing an inconvenience think about how you can find joy in it.
