House Blessing
Marie and Philip are flying back to El Paso tonight so we can drive to Cali tomorrow! They were supposed to get in at 6:15, but wound up having to take another flight that doesn't arrive until 11:55 pm. What am I doing to stay awake until then? That's right--blogging!
I went to a house blessing service yesterday, for a trailer that was first worked on by a servant event from Sugar Land, TX, last July. A car bomb in Juarez led us to abandon what we already had scheduled for them, and the lot fell to San Pablo member Elsa Smith. Long story short, her trailer was a bit more than one group could handle. Not wanting to see what the Sugar Land folks left pending fall by the wayside, some volunteers from Zion Lutheran Church picked up the slack using Thrivent money. After maxing out the available funds in 2010, the Zion crew applied again in 2011 and were given just enough to add a few finishing touches. Chris, Melba (recent addition to YLM's volunteer corps), and I went out to the trailer on Friday a) to finish repairing all the electrical outlets; and b) because a few more Thrivent households were needed in order to comply with the grant stipulations!
The blessing itself involved walking from room to room and saying a short prayer at each stop regarding its function. This is all done while carrying a candle symbolizing Christ's abiding light. The purpose is to thank God for all whose hands have labored on a certain project thus far, consecrate the space to the Lord, and bless all who will inhabit it from there on out. We do "house blessings" all the time in Juarez, but it's a much more meaningful experience when you have more than 2 rooms and 288 sq. ft. to walk through!
This is what many of the outlets looked like before...
And this is what they look like after applying Chris's ingenious quick fix!
Melba and Elsa working on an outlet in the kitchen.
The blessing service even included a section for entering the front door!
Elsa and her niece during the blessing of the first bedroom.
Blessing the laundry area and the bathroom!
Zion member Charlie presenting Elsa with a wooden cross made by another Zion member.
All the blessing attendees.
Charlie hanging the cross.
Stephen and Elsa with the cross in place!
I went to a house blessing service yesterday, for a trailer that was first worked on by a servant event from Sugar Land, TX, last July. A car bomb in Juarez led us to abandon what we already had scheduled for them, and the lot fell to San Pablo member Elsa Smith. Long story short, her trailer was a bit more than one group could handle. Not wanting to see what the Sugar Land folks left pending fall by the wayside, some volunteers from Zion Lutheran Church picked up the slack using Thrivent money. After maxing out the available funds in 2010, the Zion crew applied again in 2011 and were given just enough to add a few finishing touches. Chris, Melba (recent addition to YLM's volunteer corps), and I went out to the trailer on Friday a) to finish repairing all the electrical outlets; and b) because a few more Thrivent households were needed in order to comply with the grant stipulations!
The blessing itself involved walking from room to room and saying a short prayer at each stop regarding its function. This is all done while carrying a candle symbolizing Christ's abiding light. The purpose is to thank God for all whose hands have labored on a certain project thus far, consecrate the space to the Lord, and bless all who will inhabit it from there on out. We do "house blessings" all the time in Juarez, but it's a much more meaningful experience when you have more than 2 rooms and 288 sq. ft. to walk through!
This is what many of the outlets looked like before...
And this is what they look like after applying Chris's ingenious quick fix!
Melba and Elsa working on an outlet in the kitchen.
The blessing service even included a section for entering the front door!
Elsa and her niece during the blessing of the first bedroom.
Blessing the laundry area and the bathroom!
Zion member Charlie presenting Elsa with a wooden cross made by another Zion member.
All the blessing attendees.
Charlie hanging the cross.
Stephen and Elsa with the cross in place!Until next time, blessings!
P.S. I hope I will have hot water when I get back on Sunday...I went to take a shower this morning and nothing came out...
P.S. I hope I will have hot water when I get back on Sunday...I went to take a shower this morning and nothing came out...
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