Unconditional love

Holy Cow,  I can’t believe that this is already week 6 and that it’s almost over with…that means only one more week of volunteers and one more week to finish up our projects.  These past few weeks have had so many happies and of course a few crappies along the way.  It’s so hard to find time to tell all of you about everything even though I wish that all of you could be here to experience everything. 

Ok completely random interjection to all of my thoughts…right now I should be paying attention to the beginning of our meeting and one of the youth just walked in and prayed for us, and it was incredible.  He just said how God had chosen each of us to be here and it was one of the coolest things.  It’s these little moments that make me want to stay here forever. 

Week 5 was wonderful, the churches who came not only interacted incredibly with each other, but also with us as a staff.   They cared for us so much and really went above and beyond to make sure that we had one of the easiest and best weeks possible.  One of our GLs Mike, was a floater and literally the best thing ever.  Every morning he would get up to go to hardware with us, aka wake up at 5:30 to get in the car with a semi awake staffer to drive to home depot and load/find an entire van full of goodies…maybe this sounds fun to you…but I struggle doing it once a week, but everyday that’s dedication.  Each night he would come to our office and just impart his wisdom upon us, seeing him go was the beginning of a lot of tough goodbyes. 

I also think that this was one of the most challenging weeks in terms of motivation and passion for me.  We are pouring out everything we have and it is so easy not to refuel on God in the midst of everything which leads straight to the struggle bus. 

We have had two really awesome weekends…

1.     We went to a minor league baseball game, although I couldn’t tell you anything about the game, I could impart many things about the pictures we took, the gift store, the laughs, and the awesome ice cream that we at out of cute little plastic baseball caps.  Our evening was finished out by a midnight parking lot dance party-  crucial part of every staffs existence.

2.     SPOOM…or the society for the preservation of old mills.  Marv…another really awesome dude who is on the board for ASP owns a mill just about 35 min from our center, so we went there took a tour, rode all around his property on gators, watched the sunset from swings, enjoyed a delicious dinner on real plates and with placemats, and had a campfire.  Then we had the pick of 8 different real beds… something I haven’t seen for about 2 months.  We enjoyed a relaxing morning on the porch and came back refreshed to work.

This week I also got to take a day off, I met up with Kristen and Jolean in Anderson County….it was wonderful.  We not only had some awesome conversations about God’s unconditional love for us and how we can share that with others, but we had a picnic and went geocaching.  If you’ve never been before, you must go…I will take you.  It’s like treasure hunting for big kids!

Anyway things are going swell, thanks for all the mail J and for your prayers.  One more week left- it’s crazy.  Pictures to come soon :)

It's not about me.

I can't believe that week three is already coming to an end.  One of the first days here one of our volunteers was wearing a shirt that said It's not about me, and I think thats been a theme of this week.

Personally, I'm beginning to start to see why God brought me here and learning how to talk about what I am feeling inside and be vulnerable to emotions.  Things I'm not actually very good at.  It may take a little prying and a good root beer float from some random diner, and a lot of car rides, but it's getting there!  I know that each day brings new challenges and new memories and lessons.

Also, our boss Steve came to visit this week, and it was my turn to go on runs( when we visit all of the houses) with him and I was super nervous.  But it ended up being an awesome day with lots of learning and good chats!  And we got our vehicle points!

This week I had two awesome contact homes and all of our projects are coming along so beautifully.  I got to see the first piece of vinyl siding up and the first piece of tin go up on the roof.  Seeing the beginnings of projects is really cool and then still being able to see them be completed!  I am continuing to learn more about construction and how to problem solve on site everyday.

Some exciting things since last time I posted...

1. The Breaks, last weekend we went to the breaks which is an inner-state park between KY and VA.  An ASP tradition for all of the staffs to get together after week two, we went swimming in a river and jumped off of cliffs and did the rope swing!  So much fun.  Then we went to dinner, had a campfire, and slept in the back of our vans.

2.  Our families have been awesome!  Every time I get to see them, they give me the energy to keep going and to know how much we are impacting them.  One of our families grilled today for us and they are always out helping us work on their homes.  I love seeing each crew and all of the work they finish everyday.  They are changing lives and having their lives changed.

3.  My new friend Cameron, he is one of our homeowners grandsons and has autism, at the picnic on Thursday we walked to the playground together and I saw his face light up with pure joy as we approached the slide.  I saw God in him and he gave me a love that I'll never forget, for him the world is so simple and their is joy in the simplest things, I wish I could live life like him.

4.  To my GL Dave, who gave up a mission trip in Puerto Rico with his sons so that he could be an adult for this group who wouldn't be able to come without him.  We grilled together and learned about being tin rockstars, I want to have a heart like his.

5.  For mom and dads of the week...this is the best thing ever, each day we have a mom and a dad and they do things like get us ice cream or give us hugs or just tell us how awesome we are.  It's so wonderful to have that little extra something in each day!

Here are some pictures to enjoy :)

Wacky Wednesday!

I visited Lotts Creek where I volunteered in 2006, brought back a lot of memories.

My prayer partner and I went to this rope swing!

Week 2 Volunteers!

Love these girls!  

I went to the dump!!

Ben was gone... I was in charge of grilling for the picnic.

We sometimes do work, other times we take fun pictures with our volunteers.

This roof is going to be beautiful, the level and jesus are best friends!

Anyway, it's been fun, miss and love all of you and thanks for all of the mail :)