- Trace double dutching while holding Taylor Jo, and actually succeeding
- The little girl who ran away screaming when I offered her cole slaw at the block party
- Trace driving by to check on us every single time Baylee sat down
- Madison standing on Carrie and Taylor's shoulders to fix a swing "for the kids" =)
- Teeter-totter vs. seesaw
- Barclay's awesome humor and laugh that brings joy to any conversation and a smile to your face
- The moment of silence after Andrew asked us a question in Bible study because we couldn't even get close to comprehending the answer
- Talking about God's creation and how there's no way it happened by chance with Jeffrey
- Calling Veronica "Nevada" or "Vegas"
- Getting sick Monday night and missing dinner, but being able to witness the amazing sunset on the beach alone with God
- Being nicknamed "Jarebear" by the guys in my house
- "Heads up," when Trace kept remembering things he needed to tell us right before prayer
- Seeing our group love on the whole community during the block party
- The amazing final worship service
- "Ridin' deep" in Cameron's truck all week (five people in the back seat, on top of each other)
- Cramming into Cassie's car when she thought we were on outreach, and playing with Gray all the way back home
- Singing "Revelation Song" at the last worship service
- The huge waves and the sand blowing up at your face that felt like needles
- Moving up from Scum 2 to Vice President chair by chair, only to be demoted back to Scum the very next round
- Meeting a fellow Decaturian at Trace's and talking about ridiculous basketball games
- The horribly messy room with my clean and organized corner
- The awesome bus ride back home with Barclay, Luke, and Carly
- Baylee telling us about some of her odd tastes in food
- The goldfish in the PB&J sandwich
- Trace walking in the house we were working on and half of us are asleep
- Everyone else being really cold when I'm burning up
- Seeing all the beautiful families we had come with us on the trip
- Talking to Barclay and Luke for several hours until after 2 AM when I'd barely talked in my house the whole week
- Working right next door to a crew that was relentless in their work and as cheerful as could be
- Madison jumping at the opportunity to use any power tools =)
- "We need sandpaper, but you got SPONGES!"
- Spilling red paint on a freshly painted white wall, only to have it cover up beautifully in one coat
- 220+ voices praising the Lord in a single room, and a lack of any personal space (awesome place to worship!)
- Alan "Mr. Jim said he wanted to talk to us, he looked like a father that's disappointed in his son"
Mr. Jim "Hey guys, I'm going to make breakfast in the morning around 7:45"
Alan "...totally misread that"
- "I can't find the screwdriver" "Maybe it is in the oven?" (and it was actually under the oven, close enough!)
- Barclay talking about how awesome the photographer of the pictures in McDonald's is
- Getting 11 bags of chips for a 7 person crew
- "Hey Britton, can you get that? I can't reach"
- Taylor sending the girls ahead to the jobsite with Cameron while the guys waited for another hour because Trace couldn't leave yet
- George Strait
- "This won't work..." "Lick it"
There's probably a lot more, but that's all I can think of for now. Good times!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Amplify 2010 - What a blessing!
Last week, a group of college students from Auburn traveled to Port St. Joe, Florida, to serve the Lord's people through construction, cleaning, yard work, and just simple and meaningful love to those in the community. I was blessed to go back again after going last year, and I am so excited to see all of the changes made in this community in just a few years. I wish I had been able to go in 2008, the first year the group went. For those that have, I bet it is amazing to witness all of the changes made and barriers broken down in the community!
It is so cool driving through the town and seeing so many houses being worked on, so many wonderful people being ministered to in the streets and kids being loved by college students. I can't fathom, after seeing what we all saw last week, how any of us could neglect serving in the future! Knowing that God is using our talents and abilities to help those in need is so wonderful, and I don't intend for it to stop there! Everything I am, and have, is God's, and that includes my time, money, and ambition. Worldly things are not important, but the love of God is eternal, and His name of utmost importance. How can I sit idly by while people struggle with poverty, drugs, alcoholism, depression, loneliness, and every other problem humanity faces on a daily basis? I've been blessed to have all of my needs met, and it is about time I let these blessings overflow from myself unto others who desperately need the sustenance of Jesus Christ's love in their life.
Apart from working with the community and seeing the fruits of God's work, we also had an amazing time of fellowship and bonding within our own group. I absolutely loved working with my construction crew! We had a lot of fun and serving others with them was such a blessing to me. Seeing how they diligently gave up their time to serve was really convicting to me and inspired me to put so much more effort into serving. Watching the group building the porch right next to our job was particularly awesome! They never gave up, and formed such a great team. Through loving work like that, there's no reason to believe we can't change the world for the sake of the Gospel.
I also had a fantastic time with the group in my house. Though I didn't talk very much (yea guys, I'm overall a pretty silent person around new people), I did enjoy their company and particularly studying the Bible with them. They had such great insight and personal testimonies, and really opened my mind and heart to what God tries to tell us all on a daily basis. Contemplating some really big questions with them was awesome, like the moments of silence as we all just sat and thought about how mind-blowing God is after we'd talk about something. So fantastic!
I did make a lot of new friends on this trip, a few of whom have already made a great impact on me! I really look forward to getting to know them better in the future, and I hope we'll have a ton of future opportunities to serve others and learn more about the Lord.
God really put me in my place when I witnessed the sunset on Monday night. Thinking about how big everything is and how small I am is such an important thing to remember. He doesn't need me, but I desperately need Him! He's created so much, and so many fantastic and perfect things, yet He loves me and wants me to love Him back--how amazing is that! We don't deserve anything He gives us, yet He freely gives anyway! If only there were a way we could truly return His love. Spreading that love to others is a great way to start though, and I always want that to convict me into action.
To everyone who helped make this trip a possibility, I thank you! I love you guys and it was an honor serving with you!
- Jarebear =) (possibly the best nickname I've ever been given)
It is so cool driving through the town and seeing so many houses being worked on, so many wonderful people being ministered to in the streets and kids being loved by college students. I can't fathom, after seeing what we all saw last week, how any of us could neglect serving in the future! Knowing that God is using our talents and abilities to help those in need is so wonderful, and I don't intend for it to stop there! Everything I am, and have, is God's, and that includes my time, money, and ambition. Worldly things are not important, but the love of God is eternal, and His name of utmost importance. How can I sit idly by while people struggle with poverty, drugs, alcoholism, depression, loneliness, and every other problem humanity faces on a daily basis? I've been blessed to have all of my needs met, and it is about time I let these blessings overflow from myself unto others who desperately need the sustenance of Jesus Christ's love in their life.
Apart from working with the community and seeing the fruits of God's work, we also had an amazing time of fellowship and bonding within our own group. I absolutely loved working with my construction crew! We had a lot of fun and serving others with them was such a blessing to me. Seeing how they diligently gave up their time to serve was really convicting to me and inspired me to put so much more effort into serving. Watching the group building the porch right next to our job was particularly awesome! They never gave up, and formed such a great team. Through loving work like that, there's no reason to believe we can't change the world for the sake of the Gospel.
I also had a fantastic time with the group in my house. Though I didn't talk very much (yea guys, I'm overall a pretty silent person around new people), I did enjoy their company and particularly studying the Bible with them. They had such great insight and personal testimonies, and really opened my mind and heart to what God tries to tell us all on a daily basis. Contemplating some really big questions with them was awesome, like the moments of silence as we all just sat and thought about how mind-blowing God is after we'd talk about something. So fantastic!
I did make a lot of new friends on this trip, a few of whom have already made a great impact on me! I really look forward to getting to know them better in the future, and I hope we'll have a ton of future opportunities to serve others and learn more about the Lord.
God really put me in my place when I witnessed the sunset on Monday night. Thinking about how big everything is and how small I am is such an important thing to remember. He doesn't need me, but I desperately need Him! He's created so much, and so many fantastic and perfect things, yet He loves me and wants me to love Him back--how amazing is that! We don't deserve anything He gives us, yet He freely gives anyway! If only there were a way we could truly return His love. Spreading that love to others is a great way to start though, and I always want that to convict me into action.
To everyone who helped make this trip a possibility, I thank you! I love you guys and it was an honor serving with you!
- Jarebear =) (possibly the best nickname I've ever been given)
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