Sitting at the feet

God moment (a.k.a. Mary moment), Week 3

Sitting. Listening. Talking. Not getting caught up in the hustle and bustle of life. That’s Mary in four sentences.

The story of Mary and Martha was discussed during my first night with a team in Costa Rica. For those of you who haven’t read the story about Mary and Martha, I suggest clicking on this link (it’s only five verses long):

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2010:38-42;&version=31;

My time with Christ Church from The Woodlands, Texas was full of Mary moments, and it put a whole new perspective on my time here in Costa Rica. I could spend an hour shoveling rocks, hauling concrete and dumping wheelbarrows, which is all very necessary, but I could also spend an hour learning about the individual members of the church who have come to Costa Rica in order to serve God. I can hear their life story, share my life story, discuss random topics of conversation and, more importantly, simply be. Like Mary.

To describe this God/Mary moment, I will point to the last day of construction work with Christ Church. I still struggle with the balance between working hard and “leading hard,” if you will, on the work site. Our collective goal is to build a church in Sarapiquí, Costa Rica, and my goal is to help the teams accomplish that task. However, this is also a mission trip designed to bring people closer to God. That means I must balance my time between working alongside the team, translating for the team, and simply being with the team, talking about life and sharing how God’s truth has impacted us individually.

So, back to the last day of construction, I had just put my mind to the job of ditch digging. We were trying to build the ditches for an extension to the church, and I wanted to be a part of it. I hopped right in to help working and, within 10 minutes, the tropical rains came a pourin’. Therefore, we were all forced to take shelter under the completed roof of the sanctuary that we’re building. Within 15 minutes, the rains had stopped (typical of the tropical rainstorms that frequent Costa Rica’s rainy season), and the ditch-digging team members headed back to work.

I, however, was caught up in a conversation with the work foreman on the site, Marvin, who also happens to be a pastor. He and I have had many wonderful conversations about being a pastor, and he’s begun to take me under his wing and teach me valuable lessons about church ministry. I could write an entire “God moments” section solely about him. Anyways, I was in a deep conversation with him and couldn’t go back to the worksite right away. Then, over the next hour, I talked with Marvin’s son, with one of the women from Christ Church, one of the men from Christ Church, the intern from Christ Church, the associate pastor from Christ Church, and one of the workers from Costa Rica. I had wanted to work, I had wanted to help dig the ditches, yet God kept providing me with conversation after conversation. And, even though he blessed me with those conversations, I still felt like I should dig.

Turning around to finally join the team in the ditches, I saw the diggers—covered in filth, tired as all get out, and rinsing off their wheelbarrows and shovels. They had already completed the ditch-digging job, without my help. I had spent almost an hour and a half inside the sanctuary, simply chatting it up. My first reaction to the situation was pure disappointment. There were the men who had worked hard through the mud and slop, and there was me, standing in the cool shade, no dirtier than I was an hour and a half before.

My second reaction, however, was understanding. I thought back to the lesson of Mary and Martha, and it all made sense. This is what Jesus meant. Stopping in the midst of the hustle to simply be. I still remember every one of those conversations I had that afternoon and, as I mentioned earlier, they all blessed me tremendously. I probably wouldn’t remember the ten minutes that the ditch-digging team saved because I was there helping.

God taught me an incredibly valuable lesson that afternoon. There will always be a need to work construction while I’m here (Martha), but there will only be one week at a time that I can enjoy the presence of each mission trip team (Mary). I grew very close to the team from Christ Church that week, thanks to God’s insistence that I learn to rest in Him and the situation he has provided me with. Slowing down the pace and listening. Talking. Discussing life. Discussing God. That’s a large part of my time in Costa Rica, and I needed to realize that. In my third week here, I finally did.