51 is the Magic Number

For the past few weeks, the word on the streets was that I was a crazy man. Crazy for having 51 people on the trip. Crazy for letting someone join on Tuesday before we leave. Crazy for taking my wife on the trip (oh wait, that was just me thinking that). For a while there I was starting to think that too, especially after seeing the sea of blue walking through the airports Saturday. Then once we got here, the chatter from the group was beginning to grow. "How are all of us going to work at one site?" and "Is there going to be enough jobs for everyone?" I begin to worry that maybe everyone was right, and that this group was too big. And to top it all off, early this morning there was a huge storm that started around 4 am and lasted until about 10. This lost time waiting for the rain to stop would put us behind the 8-ball in trying to get the job completed this week. But once we finally got the job site (two hours late), something amazing happened. The groups split up in their assigned tasks, got rolling, and for the next 6 hours never stopped moving. A group went across the street to the park to take care of the kids. A group got started with the landscaping, cutting branches, raking up weeks, and picking up trash. A group went into the bedroom to take down the old walls and being to put up sheetrock. A group began the kitchen renovations by cleaning out the cabinets and countertops and prepping for new doors and shelves. A group headed to the bathroom to prepare the bathtub for tiling. And as I was driving to the local hardware store to pick up supplies, I left not worried about the team members being without work. I was finally listening to the words I had been speaking to the team at each meeting and the first two days - "We are here to fulfill God's plan, not ours." All of the anxiety and tension left me, and a sense of calm came over me. I heard from some leaders and some kids this evening about what they were worried about most when the day started. And the majority of the answers were about trying to find enough work for all 51 people to do. They added that their worrying seemed silly now. Why should we worry about it? God put us all on this trip for a reason. He put us at that location for a reason. He knew how many people needed to be here this week to fulfill his plan for us. 51. What a magical number.