Birthdays and Dogs

Donna and Andy often talk about the "ministry of presence"--where sometimes our work here is just to listen rather than put hammer to nail. I'm one of those people who is more eager to get to work, more impatient with the chit-chat. So I marvel at how our more experienced mission-trippers seem to handle it all. We work hard all day, yet they still have energy--and a genuine interest--to visit with friends old and new. And then I realized at lunch today how much I miss interacting with the families for whom we are building homes. Every mission trip is different, and for various reasons, we haven't spent as much time with the families as we did on my previous trip. But my point is that maybe the "ministry of presence" is something you learn, or perhaps something that grows on you the more time you spend here. Whatever the case, I'm really looking forward to the birthday party--and all the chit-chat--later today.

Speaking of friends old and new...

We have acquired a new friend--a giant, shaggy but friendly St. Bernard ("Honest, Mom--he followed me home!"). We refer to him variously as Ananias (from our first reading on Saturday night) or Beethoven. Our ministry here includes canines as well as people! Signing off the blog now to google for St. Bernard Rescue, then back to work.

Betsy