Fargo, ND a town about 3 hours away from the Twin Cities is located along the Red River. The unique thing about the Red River is that it flows north instead of south. Because of this it is prone to flooding in the spring when the southern part of the river thaws more quickly than the northern part. Right now the town of Fargo is preparing itself for some massive flooding. The river is already over it's banks and continues to rise. The community has banded together to lay around 2 million sandbags in an effort to stop the water.My friend Dave had the incredible idea to drive up there for the day to help. We left the Twin Cities at 9 am on Sunday morning and got up there around lunchtime. We parked at the Fargodome and loaded one of the buses bound for the dikes.
Driving to the work site was a tad surreal. The city has built dikes made out of dirt in different portions of the city. These dikes look like large dirt walls running down half of the street, leaving only one lane to drive on. The homes on the other side are blocked in by these dirt dikes on one side and sandbag dikes on the other. The theory behind it is if the water makes it through the sandbags then the wall of dirt will stop it from flooding the entire neighborhood. I had never seen anything like it. Pulling up to the work site our bus our bus slid around a corner. If you have never experienced a bus sliding in slow motion around a corner, it's pretty sweet (only because we
didn't hit anything).We worked for about 5 hours laying sandbags to help build a dike and guesstimate that we helped place around 1,500 sandbags. We also met some fun people in the process: there was a youth group there (which made it feel a little bit like we were on a YouthWorks site), we met 2 people who had worked at camp with one of our co-workers, a man who is the uncle of someone who used to work for YouthWorks, and a guy who is dating a girl who went to high school with Dave. In addition we met a lot of really cool people who live in Fargo.
Getting dirty (we were covered in mud), working side by side with friends and strangers, and accomplishing something tangible was a super refreshing way to spend the day.
The year of 2009 I have dedicated to learning to love others better. To put daily into practice the verse that says "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." (Philippians 2:3). The phrase "consider others better than yourself" has been running on a looped track in my head these last few months. There are moments where I live this out very well and almost want to boast at the way I am putting others ahead of me, but I am ashamed to say that there are many more times where I take the selfish path. The path that looks the way I want it to look and the path that is the most comfortable and convenient for me.
Out there in the mud and muck, lifting 20 lb bags of sand and working with people from all walks of life this phrase often found it's place in my head. I found myself wondering how I could serve these friends and strangers in my midst. I found myself wondering if my sacrifice made a difference, if it had any effect on those around me. But then I remembered that I don't love and serve others for their sake. I love and serve others because they are reflections of the God I love and adore. I love and serve others because Christ calls me to that. I love and serve others because in serving and loving them, I am serving and loving Him.
My head hit the pillow late that night thankful. Thankful for friends and deepening relationships. Thankful for laughter. Thankful for car sing-alongs. Thankful for serving. And thankful for a God who loves me, despite moments of selfishness and vain ambition. Who loves me really, inspite of my sinful self. Who loves me because of the beauty He sees within me.
"He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
He drew me out of deep waters.
He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes who were too strong for me.
He brought me out into a spacious place;
He rescued me because
HE DELIGHTED IN ME."
Psalm 18: 16,17,19
He drew me out of deep waters.
He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes who were too strong for me.
He brought me out into a spacious place;
He rescued me because
HE DELIGHTED IN ME."
Psalm 18: 16,17,19
