RVT in Missions: End of Minot Deployment 8/18/11-8/19/11

I was planning to work through Friday and leave on Saturday but that was not the way it worked out. I had been battling a cough for over a month and on Thursday I woke up with a terrible sinus infection. I still really wanted to work so I made my lunch like every other morning before breakfast and traveled with the team to the job. We worked on the same house as the day before and I focused on pulling nails from beams in the ceiling while others knocked down the ceilings and cleaned out the basement. We found out from the EPA that all the blown-in insulation had to be put in plastic trash bags before it could be added to the pile by the street. This was very discouraging as it added a lot of work and time to our job. As the day wore on, I kept feeling worse and worse and by one o'clock I was sick enough that Becky sent me back to base to rest. I was very down and felt like a total slacker for leaving the rest of my team (all older than me by far) to do the work. However, they all said I was pale and I felt weak and just generally awful. Becky threatened to call Mike on me if I didn't go so I gave in. Cathy went back too because she was getting a muscle spasm that made it painful to work. We showered and changed clothes, she bought me cold medicine and got me ice packs and I passed out for two hours until just before supper.

The next morning I woke up drenched in sweat from a fever and removed myself from the team. I packed up and started driving back to Colorado, looking at the clock in the car often and knowing where the team would be at in their day. They're taking their morning break. Now it's lunch time. Popsicles should be there soon. Only an hour left in the work day. Probably packing the truck and heading back to the church. It really did hurt my spirit not to be able to finish with my team. I felt that I had let down my team, my crew chiefs, the homeowners, myself, and maybe even God.

The volunteers on this deployment did come under spiritual attack and we recognized it. I got so sick that I couldn't work; a sixteen year-old Michigan girl's grandmother died Thursday; a woman's adult son tried to commit suicide and called her to say goodbye. (The mom grabbed the hand of the chaplain next to her and without knowing what was going on, the chaplain started praying. Thankfully, the young man did not take his own life and a pastor in his area is going to come alongside and help him.)

And yet we also recognized the hand of God reaching down and helping us. As Bill (from Missouri) said, every night you go to bed and think "Lord, I don't think I can do another day of this." And then you wake up in the morning and say "Hey, I feel pretty good. I'm good to go again. It's like you've been reborn." Nearly everyone experienced this kind of refreshing in the morning no matter how little sleep you had the night before and all that I can say is it was definitely the grace of God. Another way that I personally saw God work was through everyone's attitudes and work ethic. I have never really minded hard work but I actually really enjoyed what I was doing in Minot. Every day was a good day even though you came back exhausted, sweaty, and often covered in insulation. You hear this from nearly everyone on an SP deployment: "This is really hard work but I'm actually having fun!" Everyone worked hard and got along; there was no cliques, fighting, or slacking. A human couldn't throw a bunch of people from different denominations, backgrounds, and states together and have it work. These teams are hand-picked by God.

I know that God has a reason I wasn't able to stay in Minot for the whole time that I had planned and while it is bitterly disappointing I continue to trust in His mercy and grace. He is definitely leading me and putting me where He desires when He desires though lately this seems to be more via a swift kick in the bum than anything else. Needless to say I don't get to thinking that I'm the one running the show for very long. :)