Double Trouble Blog, by Stacy Brenes

(Note, Double Trouble is a name chosen by the group, the ASP work-site group name is Mr Rogers)

In two days, I've gotten to get a glimpse of the relationship between our humanity and God.  My crew is working on a roof, a bathroom and a porch.  On the first day a couple of us began to "gently remove" the porch in order to rebuild a new one.  In the midst of the debris, I realized that we are like the porch that we are working on.

Some time ago, the porch was built shiny and new on a sturdy foundation; yet years of storms, floods and use allowed for the porch to become weak.  Water seeped into the ground and caused it to slide;  it seeped into the crevices of the wood and caused it to rot;  it rusted the nails and made the gutters fill with grime.  After years of neglect the porch was no longer the strong, sturdy porch that the carpenter had once made. our homeowner saw this, he added a porch swing, decorations, and laid a new board to lay atop of the rotten ones and though the porch looked better, the rot, rust and grime still lay beneath all of the superficial changes.

As we tore through it I realized how we are a reflection of this porch.  God created us, strong and with purpose; yet sins, tribulations and neglect of our spirit and faith leave our souls, hearts and minds in the same position that the porch is in.  Some of us try to cover our sins, we mask our errors, our mistakes and our past and are superficially okay but spiritually broken.  Yet it is only until we have hit rock bottom that we cry out for God to help.  On the porch, I realized that as people, we fail and we sin, but God repairs and restores.  In the same way that my crew removed the porch, God removes our sin.  He takes it all away, and like our homeowner, we stand on the sideline weary and torn, because all we see is the destruction of all we've ever known; all that we've ever been.  But God is a God of wonders, and in the same way my crew did today, he remakes our foundation so we can stand tall again, he constructs us with pressure treated wood and galvanized nails to prevent us from rotting or rusting.  He builds us new, our neglect and sin is forgiven and no longer exists; and though we will sin again; storms and tribulations will com, we will be prepared for it;  because through him we are no longer a weak people of sin, but a strong people of God.

Here is the porch today.  The Crew at this site is a double crew consisting of: Stacy, Blair, Samantha, Lindsey, Brian, Sydney, Rob, Conner B., Zak O., Mickey, John A., Linda O., Linda B., Bill D.