This past week the Farragut College Ministry that I am a part of went on a mission trip to Bayou La Batre, Alabama; that's just below Mobile, Al. It was my first mission trip, and I must say probably the best trip I've ever been on. It wasn't tornado relief, although Alabama needs that too(that comes later during the summer). We helped fix up a house that hadn't been lived in for several years; It was really nasty, but looked great when we finished. Also some of us worked around the church and handed out food to a part of the community that needed it. It was truly a great trip and we had fun doing it. I also learned a few things on this trip about myself and the people around me.
The idea of going on a mission trip is more enticing than actually being on the mission trip for some people. I heard one person with us talking about how he/she was ready to go home(at the end of the first day). This also being one of the people who helped push the whole mission trip to start with. I was very taken aback when I heard this comment, my best explanation for this type of situation is a lack of love for God. Hopefully I'm wrong, but if not then there is some serious work that needs to be done within our group.
I met this girl who was being trained to pretty much take over the running of their church building. She impressed me with the way she took lead and directed people(college aged and adults) she didn't even know without a second thought. She is 12 years old. I'm not sure I know any other young men or women that could have lead adults so much older with such ease. I don't know exactly what kind of house she comes from, but I know its not the greatest yet she is such an extraordinary and loving young woman. She will do great things.
Leading has a great deal to do with confidence in both yourself and God; and I can feel and see myself growing in both these areas. I still don't do so well with devotionals, but in private discussions about ourselves, about our group, about our lives I'm noticing myself growing and being able to give and receive advice better. We typically know what is right and wrong, however we often find ourselves on the wrong side of the scale. Excluding people and treating them poorly for any reason isn't a good thing, yet so many of us do it; myself included. This is something we are working on and I can already see a difference which is something I talked to part of our group about. By treating a particular member of our group better, we've noticed an improvement in this person's voice, actions, and general behavior. Be the change you want to see, don't stand around just waiting for it to happen.
I don't have much of an attention span when it comes to reading. There is a book I've been reading off and on since Christmas, I wasn't even half way through with it when we hit the road Wednesday morning. I can't read on a moving vehicle because I always get sick. So I was looking around and managed to sign up at Audible.com with a 30 day free trial and receive two free audio books that I downloaded to my phone (Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical, and its sequel, Follow Me to Freedom: Leading as an Ordinary Radical). I finished the first one that I had been reading since Christmas on the way to Bayou La Batre by listening to the rest and started the second one on the way back. Audio books are one of the greatest things I've found.
Bayou La Batre's living situation has been in a horrible state ever since Katrina, and more recently the BP oil leak which truly destroyed their economy, but on our trip we got to see that things are starting to turn around there and hopefully will continue to. Please keep them (along with the rest of the coast which relies on the gulf for fishing and especially shrimping to make a living) in your prayers and if you ever have an opportunity I highly recommend going down there and actually trying to make a difference.
I'm not sure what's to come next for them or me, but I believe there are going to be some changes in my personal life both related to topics I've discussed and others that I'm not going to at this point in time. God may have finally provided me something while I was down there that I've been longing for for a long time. Though I'm uncertain if I'm truly ready for it. I need to remember to keep God as my priority. We must always strive to have him as our number 1 relationship.
Be a blessing in all things you do and through you God will make a great nation.
