I have been just too busy to write lately and for that I apologize. There have been funny things to write about and I simply haven’t had time to get them out onto paper.
I didn’t even write about the staff development we had a while back in which we were forced to suffer through a Dolly Pardon, Minnie Pearl (from Hee Haw), and Lucille Ball impersonation. I am not kidding in the slightest. It was two and a half hours of pure torture. I am sorry that I can’t give you the details anymore; thankfully, it is starting to feel like a bad nightmare that I am forgetting.
I just returned yesterday from leading my first short term mission trip. It was an amazing experience, but I have to admit that I was a little bit scared to be leading. When I agreed to lead the team, it was with the understanding that I would have a co-leader. And then she wasn’t able to go.
When she was teaching us to swim, momma pretty much just threw us into the pool; I felt that leading this trip was a very similar experience. But everything went well. No wrecks in the rented vans. No hospital visits. No drama queen tears shed. All in all, I think that it was a success. I think that we did a lot of good and that we all learned a lot. All 48 of us were changed in some way.
It was good to go back to Pass Christian. An amazing amount of work has been done since Christmas, but there is still an incredible amount to be done. On Monday, we cleaned out a house that had not been touched since the storm; the drawers in the bedroom still had water pooled in them. The house belongs to Roy and Bonnie Hogan. They are a really sweet and truly Southern couple who will celebrate their 56 anniversary in August. The house was their dream home. And in spite of the destruction of the home they loved so much, they were joyful, welcoming, and hopeful. They treated each other as newlyweds; isn’t that the kind of marriage that everyone hopes to have?
My team was amazing. From so many different walks of life, I was a little concerned that they wouldn’t all get along. I couldn’t have been more wrong (who am I to question the Sovereignty of God?). They cared for each other and shared with each other. And they are just great people. My circle of friends grew on this trip.
Lest this post become an overly serious one, I will leave you with one of the funnier moments on the trip. Those of you who know me are aware that I HATE HATE HATE bananas. I think that they are of the devil. Monday was my birthday. It was our first day in Pass Christian and at lunch I told some of my team members about my disdain for bananas. After our evening meeting the team sang “Happy Birthday” and they had a cake and ice cream. The cake that they bought (some sort of yummy chocolate cake) got lost in a cooler. But it just so happened that a group from Memphis had sent down some cakes for the volunteers and there was a layer cake in the mix. People were talking about how great it was that God provided a cake. And then I took a bite. Yep, banana. I almost lost my dinner. Happy Birthday to me.
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