Green Paint

It was a Monday, sunny and 80 degrees.  Actually, this is unusually nice weather for Monterrey, the desert where we live and serve.

On this particular morning, a group of 18-year-olds from a Christian school were along for the ride as we worked to fix up different areas of an orphanage near our campus.  The children were in school for the morning, leaving us empty dormitories to repaint and walls to plaster.

I was in charge of a painting project, but immediately as we began to prepare the little boys’ dorm to change the wall color from a dingy pumpkin to a bright key lime green, my small paint crew began to voice their anxieties.
Unfortunately, at the time, the flu virus had been spreading throughout the campus where the mission teams were staying.  Each day more people succumbed to it, including staff members.  For these teens, leaving their home country for the first time was already WAY out of their comfort zone – and the idea of being sick on top of that was upsetting.

Those who were left were anxious and agitated; some of their group were already down with it, and one in our little painting team was beginning to feel unwell.  All their talk was making everyone around them feel anxious.  I silently prayed for guidance about what to do.  The thought came to me, play worship music.  So as we painted, I intentionally played some Elevation Worship music on my phone in the background, then mounted a ladder to begin cutting in the ceiling of the dorm room with the green paint.

Within 5 minutes, the anxious chatter in the room had quieted down, and a new sound was rising.  Was it . . .?  Could it be . . .?

Voices.

Their voices.

While the teens were focused intently on painting, they were softly singing along with the worship music.  Soon, their voices separated into harmonies.  My eyes filled.
The girl who was not feeling well was leading them all in worship.

“I see You move, You move the mountains . . . and I believe, I’ll see You do it again.  You made a way, where there was no way . . . and I believe, I’ll see You do it again.”

I could feel the Spirit warmly enveloping us with His joy.  The teens grinned from ear to ear, their singing growing louder with each song.  They finished their painting project with enthusiasm and sprang up to play with the children who were just beginning to return from school.  They threw themselves into everything we handed them, and their formerly anxious words became life-giving and encouraging.

**Actual quotes from the teens on my paint team:
“I love serving others.  I love that we’re making a difference here even with something so small.”
“This room was so dark before; I think just walking into this new bright room will help these kids see that God loves them and cares about the details in their lives.”
“I want God to use us to show love to these kids.”
“Man, these kids are gonna destroy us in soccer when they get back from school.  So…Let’s DO THIS!”

Even now as I write this, I can’t help the tears from springing into my eyes.  God is so good, and His love quiets every fear.  May my first response to trouble always be worship, entrusting myself to the hands of my beloved Father, and letting go of my tight grip on worry.

Maybe a little green paint and worship are all we need today.