A Lesson in Gratitude

We had an amazing trip to Puerto Penasco, Mexico last weekend. On Friday we left and headed to 1Mission.  We set up our camp and headed into town with our new friends Pat and Donna and our other new friend Frank.  We ended up meeting others from our group in town.

Our adventure started with getting caught in a Mardi Gras parade.  What a hoot.  We finally reached our destination - a wonderful restaurant called Mary's.  The food was wonderful, the view breath taking and the companionship a taste of Heaven.

Saturday morning we were up early and headed to our site.  There were 25 adults and about 15 children.  We built an 11'x22' home.  In reality it is a concrete slab with framed walls and a roof.  No water, no plumbing, no electricity....

The first day part of us poured the slab, the others framed the house and put on the sides.  We hand mixed the concrete.

The second day we raised the walls, put on the roof, tar papered, chicken wired and put on the first coat of stucco.  Yes, we made our own stucco down to screening the gravel to get sand!

That evening the family joined us for dinner at 1Mission for a fiesta - what yummy food we enjoyed.  Then we sat around the camp fire singing and visiting with our new friends.

The final day the last coat of stucco was put on, we shared the gifts we brought and had a dedication.  Lots of smiles and tears.

Honestly, I wasn't sure it could be done.  There were lots of aches and pains for those of us unaccustomed to physical labor.  But the gratitude of Francisco and Maria and their children made it all worthwhile.  They have so little compared to what we are blessed with.

It was almost surreal, a simple line between countries means the difference between cleanliness and trash; the hopelessness versus the opportunity.  Our new friends love Jesus.  In many ways their faith is so much greater than ours. 

We came home feeling blessed.  Our God is so good.