There are some days here when I know I am going to sweat. I know I will be covered in grime, and therefore I choose to wear "my work outfit." Tuesday was one of those days. Let me paint you a mental picture.
Me, sitting on our "porch" in a cut-off t-shirt, and work shorts. If the fact that the shirt no longer has any sleevs doesn't make me look enough like a redneck, the big stain across the stomach from working in the red clay mud might. I am surrounded by filthy broken styrofoam ceiling tiles. Three of my teamates are behind me in the kitchen taking down ALL the disgusting ceiling tiles. Dirt, dust, and other unknowns are literally raining down on us. The Panama heat is causing us to sweat profusely. The continuous fall of filth simply sticks to our damp skin. The place is a MESS!
Enter David, the director of the base, with a panic stricken face. Hurriedly he calls us all together. He then proceeds to tell us that So-and-so is coming to the base. Well I heard "so-and-so," but apparently the YWAM staff standing around me heard someone really really important. Then David dropped the bomb that caused utter chaos. Mrs. Somebody Special would be here in a mere 15 minutes. All the female staff instantly said, "I HAVE TO CHANGE!" That's when I knew this was serious.
As we run to pick up the ceiling tiles, sweep the floor, and wipe everything down we ask who exactly this lady is that she could cause such a commotion. We were informed that is the pastor's wife of the biggest, most influential church in Panama City. YWAM Panama City could greatly benefit from having a place like this support them. I then understood the importance of looking our best for the arrival or Mrs. Somebody-Special.
It was a miracle, but we had everything clean, including ourselves, in fifteen minutes. I had managed to change into more respecatble clothing and even got the grime off my arms. Around the corner stepped a friendly and classy looking lady. She kindly greeted me, shook my hand, and visited with me like she sincerely wanted too. All the YWAM staff were still changing, so I continued on the conversation thinking I was stalling on their behalf. Finally more important people came to take her off my hands.
She moved on to a different area of the base. I FINALLY breathed! My teammates, some YWAM staff and I just stood in shock in the kitchen. We were amazed we had done it, we were sweating like crazy, and we all took a collective sigh of relief. We had survived the visit from Mrs. Somebody-Special, or so we had thought. After about 10 minutes of standing in the kitchen, David returns to us. He tells us more surprising news. The oh-so-important lady hadn’t actually come. The woman I had the pleasure of meeting was just another YWAM director from a base in Puerto Rico. The Pastor’s Wife had sent some on her behalf, and the lady she sent didn’t even get out of the car. 15 minutes of complete madness and we never even saw her.
Just another crazy moment at YWAM Panama City. One of many.
"We meet no ordinary people in our lives." -C.S. Lewis
