Pink Lemons

Well, I just yesterday got back from an amazing week-long missions trip to Marvell, Arkansas.

Being thrust back into my normal life is taking some getting used to.  Because the week before last, I was at church camp for a week.  So, I’ve been with the same people for two weeks, 24/7.  It was so strange this morning, waking up and not hearing my friends talking or smacking the alarm clock.

The organization we went with is called Youthworks.  It’s a great organization, they do incredible things.  We stayed in the old Marvell School.  It was great.  They even had air conditioning which was good because, let me say, it is very, very, VERY, hot down in the south.   The only annoying thing was the crickets.  There wasn’t an infestation or anything like that there were just a few really big speckled criket type things.  …Yuck.

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Hey!  So, I just got back from a missions trip on Saturday.  It was amazing, and so uplifting.  =]
I had a fantabulous time.
I was down in Gulfport, Mississippi (near Biloxi) helping out with Katrina Relief.
You, know, it was so amazing to see all the devastation.  Where we were staying was the foundation of an old mall, that was completely gone!  Can you believe that??!  As we drove everyday on the way to our worksite, we saw so many buildings that were gone.  There was a McDonalds, Texas Roadhouse, and Hotels that were absolutely and completely gone.  To think that that is what happened to peoples homes, is truly awful. 
When they told me I was going down to help with Katrina Relief Efforts I expected to be building homes or painting or something like that, but instead, I helped tear a house down!!  The water damage was awful.  =[
The group before us had already completely gutted the house, so all we did was tear it down, but the wood was so rotten, you could just fall through if you weren’t careful.  = |

Besides learning how NOT to tear a house down (hahaha….) I grew a LOT closer to God.
Some of you are probably rolling your eyes at this right now, but go ahead, it’s not going to change what I have to say.
Before I left for the trip I felt like God had left me, that He didn’t care anymore, that He just tossed me aside.  When I prayed, I was like: “Well, He’s not listening anyways, so what’s the point?”  It was awful, it’s one of the worst feelings in the world.
I put on a smile for everyone else and acted like nothing was wrong.  Like I was perfectly happy, that I was really close to God.
It was hard.  I won’t deny it, and I’m not bragging, because it’s nothing to brag about.
But, on Thursday, it changed.  I talked with one of the guys on our missions team.  Him and I were doing a devotion for that night, and needless to say, I felt like I didn’t qualify for it at all!  I told him this, and we got into a deep discussion about God.  He looked up a verse for me, the last half of Matthew 28:20 “And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
I almost broke down and started crying, but I immediatly felt as if God was with me.  It was awesome, and suddenly I knew that He had never left me in the first place.
Now, I’m so much closer to God than I was at the beginning of it all.  Just know that God will NEVER leave you.
I’m so grateful to anyone who was praying for me while I was away, and I thank you. 
I’ll end this now, I just felt drawn to write it down I guess.
let me know what you think

Well, as y’all already know, I was in Mississippi this past week. Let me tell you, it was amazing! We tore down a house! When they told me I was going down to Mississippi for Katrina Relief Efforts, I thought I’d be building a house, not tearing one down!! haha

We woke up at 3 a.m. on Sunday and left at 4 a.m. and got there at around…5-ish? The rest of the day we organized our stuff, and made our beds, and looked around.

But on Monday, the first day we did something, we actually made it come down. The group before ours had completely gutted the house, so there was a huge pile of junk to throw into the dumpster, and we filled it up on the first day! Then we tied one of those thin little plastic ropes to some beams and attached the other end to our big purple van and drove off, and BOOM!!! The house came down, part of the way, it got caught on a tree, so it only came down on one side. But, it was still awesome. I swam in the ocean too! It was so warm, and there were several jellyfish up by the shore, and I put my hands on several hermit crabs under the water, let me tell ya, it’s a bit painful.

So, that was our first day there, and I have much more to tell.

Hey guys!  I’m back from my trip, and let me tell you…it was absolutely amazing!!  Helping with Katrina Relief was so uplifting.  I got so much closer to God.

All week, I tore down a house!  I thought I’d be building one, not tearing one down!  This was the first time in my life I have ever used a sledge-hammer…I love those things!  But, I am sooo sore!  I have about a gazillion bug bites too.  haha.

The last night that we were there we had worship on the beach.  It was so amazing.  We all sat in the sand and sang songs along with the guitarist.  The moon was so bright and shining on the ocean, it was beautiful.  I have so many stories to tell…   =D

All, I have to say is…”here I am to worship, here I am to bow down.  Here I am to say that you’re my God.  You’re all together lovely all together worthy all together wonderful to me…..”