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- Digging Ditches and Building Roads
Living in a seasonal marshland means I have my shovel and back ready for work.
Lesson #37 of living in my new home in Tampei Kukuo: rainy season is busy. We prepared for the rainy season with several dump truckloads of gravel and clay but the water and mud are still the masters of this land. I knew that we would need to add more gravel and clay but I was sure it would be next year. Nope.
To fight off the water I’m digging drainage ditches and adding more material to our road.
Two younger guys helped me spread three more truckloads of gravel and most of the big work is done. But I’m finding more places to drain with small ditches (we call them gutters here in Ghana) leading the water away from the house and road and into a lower runoff ditch. Every day I’m out poking around with my shovel and pick axe.
Friendships work in seasons requiring extra work, too and I’ve made a few observations that can help your friendships.
We expect a season of work/change/growth in our friendship but the work is different than what we planned before it began.
It’s okay to ask for outside help with the heavy lifting.
Small changes, like where water is running around my home, are done in small amounts. Why? Because we can make further refinements easier by solving the problem in a way meeting every person’s needs.
Relationships wander like water. Sometimes my friend is not in the place I expect him to be. We have to communicate and find a way to work together.
The soft ground makes it easier to dig ditches but it can collapse and fill more quickly than rocky and hard soils.
What seasons are your friendships in right now? Do you need to get your tools ready? Have you prepared?