Painting the Home of Jesus

The first project I worked on was painting the living and dining room areas in the home of Jesus of Mexico. His house was built last year by The Starfish Difference and this year they wanted to help him again by painting the inside.

The night before, my brother-in-law Jon, asked all the children to sign up for a project they wanted to work on. The "painting project" didn't get many names. In fact, the only person to sign up was a child. My nephew Wesley voluntarily signed up because we were painting the home of "Jesus." Later I found out he signed up because he thought it was the home of Jesus our Lord not Jesus of Mexico. The innocence of a child is so precious and can easily melt your heart!

Jesus' children were excited about us being there and decided to join in the painting. We had plenty of brushes and enjoyed their company. I was a bit worried when they began painting in their nice clothes. And yes, they did get paint on their clothes but still had no worries.

Jesus of Mexico was a nice young man in his 20's, who was married and had several children. He was so grateful for the help from The Starfish Difference that he later showed up at one of the houses we were working on and volunteered to help us in building these two homes. I also found out he had helped build a children's park in his neighborhood a few years earlier.

My sister said he is a hard worker and has always tried to give back to his people. Paying it forward can be just as rewarding as receiving the gift of charity.

A charitable donor provided a brand NEW scooter for Jesus because he needed transportation to and from his job. He heard one was coming, but had not expected it to be brand NEW. I loved the thought that someone could be so charitable to buy this man a brand NEW scooter that it made my heart smile.

I found out from my sister Teresa that Jesus didn't know how to drive it and almost wrecked it the first time he took it for a ride. Because the scooter is brand new and so nice he has to store it in his front room so it doesn't get stolen.

All of the children worked hard and very good with one another that we finished the job in only a few hours with no mishaps. They did a great job painting and we were proud of their work.

My nephew, Wesley was a sweet heart. He cracked a couple of his front teeth before he came to Mexico and while we were there got an infection. The infection caused his upper lip and left cheek to swell and was causing him great pain. Although he was in pain he didn't want to leave Mexico. It got so bad that his mom had to track down a Mexican dentist on Christmas night! Only in Mexico would you find a dentist willing to help a child in need on Christmas. Jon had made some calls and no sooner was Wesley and on his way to see the dentist. He was soon medicated to help the pain and infection. He was a real trooper and kept on working during the whole ordeal, in fact, he was still able to help us with the painting project. What an inspiration! I love that kid!

After we finished painting, we put the furniture back in the rooms. I later thought, we should have stayed and helped clean the drywall compound off the windows, cupboards, and furniture that was splattered by Jesus texturing the roof and walls. But we didn't, shame on us!

Note: Do you see the cement floor? The area rug is a rare site too!

During this painting day, my sister Dawnette and I had dropped my other sister Teresa and the children (including some of ours) off at the women's shelter we were staying. We left to find a part needed to hang the chandelier I gave Jesus. We quickly found the part we were looking for...thanks to my sister and her awesome Spanish speaking skills, and dropped it off to Jesus. We stopped back by the women's shelter, but nobody was there. We assumed my sister Teresa and all the children got a ride to one of the other projects, so we took off again. Some would later call it an escapade...wink...wink.

I had a great time with my sister, Dawnette. During the day we stopped by Iliria's home to see how the Tamale stand was going only to find out that Iliria had just made some yummy soup and invited us to eat...so we stayed for lunch! By the way, we had homemade donuts as a snack before lunch and she let us try her famous green chili tamales.

The soup was yummy. It was made with tiny broken up spaghetti noodles, potatoes, zucchini, carrots, beef and beef stock, spiced up with garlic, cilantro and chili powder.

Dawnette and I were gone for "four hours" per my sister Teresa 's story. We later found out that Teresa and all the children had walked over to Jesus' house to see the chandelier we were supposed to have installed only to see us driving away. They called out, but apparently their calls fell upon deaf ears because we just kept driving. So they found themselves ride less and walking back to the women's shelter where they stayed the rest of the evening. Heaven forbid, Teresa had Wesley, who was ready for another pain pill and had started to turn green, so she sent him to bed hoping he'd be fine.

We all had a good laugh later that night at how hard Dawnette and I had worked that day...driving around and eating yummy homemade Mexican food without our children! I hope Teresa let's Dawnette and I accompany her next year, hard work has never tasted so good.