Pt.1 - "Confession". Pt.2 - "The angel's in the details"

Pt.1 - I have a confession to make.  Facebook is so easy to update on the go, that I have a really hard time remembering to update this web site and remembering that some of the people who love following what's going on with CRMP are among the 10 or 12 people in the world who don't use facebook.  It's been almost 2 years since the last time I wrote a blog post!  A lot has happened since then.  I'm going to skip over 2013 (Sunday school classrooms in Pavones, the great wall of Cocori, Multi purpose building in Peje) and get right to where we are now.  In November of last year we (CRMP) purchased about 1.5 acres of land next to Pavones and Cocori in San Isidro.  We are now in the process of building the CRMP Missions and Ministry Center.  It will be the new home base for everything we do.  The MMC will include housing for the more than 600 volunteers that come to work with us every year.  It will include a kitchen/dining hall/storage facility so we can feed everyone and finally have all of our tools and equipment stored in one place.  It will include a day care center for children of low/no income single mothers in the area and last but not least, we will build a home for young women from Costa Rica's rural south who would like to come to San Isidro to pursue their education.  We can't wait to see what new doors for ministering to the people of Costa Rica will begin to open to us once we get the MMC up and running.  We are thrilled to finally be able to make a long term commitment to a particular place, after years of moving from one community to another every 4 months.  Of course, we will continue to send teams out into the local churches to help with building projects.  I will do a better job of updating the pictures on this web site, but you can also check out the facebook page (Costa Rica Mission Projects) for almost daily updates from the site.

Pt.2 - It's always surprising how quickly these building projects progress in the initial stages.  Sometimes in just a matter of days we already have walls up and after a couple of weeks the roof is on.  We can't believe how fast things are moving and it seems like we'll be wrapping it up in no time at all.  Then, inevitably its like someone yanks up the emergency break.  It's maddening because we're all still working as hard as we were those first few weeks but its like we're suddenly trudging through mud.  We aren't things getting done faaaaasteeerrrrrrr!!!!!?????  

It's because of the details.  Once the structure is done and we start getting into the detail work, we have to slow down.  If we want it done right we have to work with care and diligence.  Not that we aren't careful from the get go, but hoisting concrete slabs and columns or pouring a concrete flour just moves faster.  If we want the end result to be excellence, then we have to slow down and pay careful attention to the details.  I'm struck by how closely this resembles our spiritual lives.  So often things seem to be "moving" along quickly, whether its after a mountain top experience, a renewed commitment to Christ, a baptism or confirmation.  It's all we think about, all we focus on and it feels great!  It feels like we're so in tune with "who" we are and "whose" we are that we're going to conquer the world.  And then comes the time to pull up on that emergency break.  If we are striving for excellence in our spiritual lives, then we must take time to focus on the details.  Not growth in large swaths, but the ever so slight movement forward that comes from slow, quiet, diligent introspection.  It may seem, at times like these, that we are moving forward at a snails pace, or maybe even not at all.  

When the last thin skim coat of concrete gets put down for the floor and its been treated and polished and is so smooth and shiny that you can slide across it in your socks... Or when the last coat of paint goes on the walls and the cabin you just built really does look like a classic old "hacienda" style cabin from years ago... Or when you realize that you are in tune with the Holy Spirit in a way you've never been before, you'll know that it's worth the time and the effort that it took to get there.

Peace on Earth

Comments

[Cliff Melvin]

Wil,
You might also mention the birth of Isabella!

[Leslie FUMC Deland]

Thank you for updating the blog on your website......lol, I am one of the 10 or 12 people that likes websites over facebook. Good write up, look forward to meeting Isabella in July:)