The Babe's Wisdom

In a playoff season where we are waiting to see who will play in the World Series, wondering if the Phillies and the Yankees will play against one another one more time, I thought it might be fun to glean a nugget of wisdom from the great Babe Ruth. Here it is:

"The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime."

The team we brought from Grace Church to Nashville plays well together. While each person on the team is individually gifted and talented, it is what is accomplished together that is meaningful. Collectively, decisions have been made as to how to redo the walls of a bedroom, how to fix the electric and plumbing concerns, how to frame windows and doors, how to do the difficult work which needs to be done underneath the trailer, how to put Kilz on the walls to prepare them for painting, to name a few of the team's tasks. If the first two days on the work site are any indication of the collegial spirit of our team, I think the Babe would be pleased.

Tonight we fixed dinner for our team and a team of eight from Michigan. Our team worked together to prepare two delicious stir fry dishes served over rice. It was definitely a group effort. In a week that was rough for Ohio State fans, the Michigan team was magnanimous in its remarks about the Ohio and Michigan rivalry. The folks on the team even shared their homemade peanut butter cake with us as we brought out the ice cream and cake for dessert.

The Michigan work team has been doing mission trips for much longer than we have; so we learned some new and interesting ways to approach mission trips in the future. It was good to talk with a team who is so experienced and kind enough to share their wisdom. I should also mention that we really liked them when they volunteered to do the dinner dishes! They will cook for us on Thursday evening and I believe we will volunteer to do the dishes. Seems only fair!

If the way a team plays (works) together as a whole determines its success, then I would say we have already had a successful week. And it's only day two on the work site! To God be the glory!

Off to sleep. Sweet dreams. I'll write more tomorrow.