Haiti Bound

As you all know, I am leaving tomorrow at midnight for 8 days in Haiti.  I will be traveling with 11 other people from my church.  We will be conducting VBS during the week for different groups of kids.  I am so excited to see how God will use us during this awesome adventure. 

My prayer for the week is that God will challenge, stretch, and grow me in ways that I have never been challenged, stretched, and grown before.  I want to be uncomfortable for Jesus.  I want to step out of my comfort zone and love with reckless abandon.  I want to be Christ's hands and feet as I love on people.  I want to learn more about what it means to have the heart of a servant.  I want to grow in relationships with my team members as well as my relationship with Christ.  I want to see lives changed, hearts healed, and hope restored. 

^"For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me. Then these righteous ones will reply, Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink?  Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing?  When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?  And the King will say, I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!" - Matthew 25:35-40

Gregory

Last week I shared the link to Gregory Morris's caringbridge site.  A local news station did a story about him over the weekend.  It is such a sweet picture of his family, his faith, and the reality that he is still just an 11 year old boy facing such a nasty illness.

#4 (Camping) - Check

Last weekend I went on a camping and white water rafting trip with some friends from church.  We left Saturday morning and headed to Tennessee to raft down the Ocoee River.  We got to our campsite and set up our tents and then went to meet up with our guides to get ready to go rafting.  I had never been white water rafting before so I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  Some people said, "It's so much fun, you will love it!"  Others mentioned things like flesh-eating bacteria, falling out, flipping over, and the approximate number of people that die each year rafting this river.  I tried to ignore those people.  I was excited and maybe a little nervous when we reached the end of our bus ride and looked out to see the dam creating some major rapids right at the start.  We had a brief lesson with our fabulous guide and headed down to get in the water.  It was AWESOME!  I wanted to do it again and again. 

We rafted pretty late in the day, so we were ready for a campfire dinner when we got back.  We had hotdogs and S'mores.  We sat around the campfire and talked, laughed, played games, and just enjoyed being together.  It was all fun... until we got in the tent and tried to go to sleep.  My quilt did not provide enough padding on the rock hard ground.  I laid on the ground in the middle of 7 other girls and heard the following: "It is like a sauna in here.  I can't breathe.  Can we open the front flap?"  "NO!  It is supposed to rain and I do not want to wake up in a puddle." (Of course that was assuming we would ever actually fall asleep)  "Who is snoring?"  "I am laying on a limb.  Can we move over a little?"  "Other tents, can y'all hear us?"  "YES!  We are roughly 5 feet away from you."  "Is that rain?"  "Seriously, who is snoring?"  Needless to say I slept approximately 1 hour and then we all got up the next morning and had to attempt to take down the tents and load the car with our wet, muddy, and dirty stuff.  Which is why we were all so very glad to head to Cracker Barrel for breakfast before heading back home.  We had a great time, but I'm pretty sure we all agreed that next time there would need to be a cabin (or a Hilton) involved. 

Faith of a Child

A few days ago I found out that one of my students from this past year was recently diagnosed with Lymphoma.  He is one of the sweetest children I have had the privilege of teaching.  He often talked about his faith, how much he loves his family, and has such a kind spirit towards everyone around him.

I remember back in the fall when I was grading vocabulary tests and came across his answer that melted my heart.
Q: Recommend two things that would help a disheartened person.
A: Telling he/she it's gonna be ok or reading the Bible to them.

I was reminded of this as I was reading the journal postings on his Caring Bridge site earlier today and was not surprised when I read about his reaction to this news.  Click here to read about this amazing boy.

Please pray for Gregory and his family as they begin this journey together.