I’ve got to admit- I expected to be sent to Mississippi. It was the only logical choice, since I was so unsure of the rest of my summer plans. However, I had no idea what to really expect from the trip. “Hurricane relief”, what did that really mean? I had done such things in New Orleans, but this was a little place called Lakeshore- not really that close to such excitement as the Big Easy. Infact, now that I think of it, I never saw the lake of which its name spoke.
The big thing that I found, however, was that God speciallizes in taking what we see as small and insignifigant, and turning it into something supernatural. I think that God must really love ironies. I mean, He uses them all the time. Look at pretty much any Biblical story:
With him, a woman named Sarah gave birth to a son when she was about 90 years old. A boy named David stood before an experienced, giant soldier with just a rock and a sling, and came out on top with one swing. It was the act of one Hebrew man named Mosis that brought down Remises II, the last Pharoh of Egypt, and all he was armed with was a staff. The King of kings came into the world in a dirty barn, into the life of a hard-working carpendar, full of all the suffering as any normal man. The greatest and final sacrifice that would change the result of all history was hung on a cross between two common theives. Blood runs the color of dark red, yet when His blood comes into our lives, it makes us white as pure snow. Somehow, the easiest way to describe a relationship with Christ is that you were once living, yet dead inside. Yet now, though you’re alive and living in a wolrd with suffering, you know that you know that when you die, you will live forever in Paradise.
Even though I did not truly know what to espect in Mississippi, I knew that it would be great, and God exceded my expectations. I found real life ironies and improbabilities that God made realities throughout the week. God opened my eyes to simple things that made me rethink my own life. Though the group was there for physical construction for hurricane relief, I found God do more construction in my own heart, and from what I saw in the testimonies and faces of the people working around me, I saw Him doing the same in others as well.
Out with the old, and in with the new. Before anyone can start setting something right and rebuilding, they must first pull out a wrecking ball or chissel or whatever to remove the unwanted. Anyone who’s ever had to hit bricks knows just how difficult this can really be. And if done incorrectly, it can end in disaster for the brick! I must admit, I had much to remove, but God was patient in working in my heart to remove it. The reason I was on the trip was because it had been an act of obedience to the Lord. I came in expecting anything because I knew He had much to show me, and I felt fairly powerless in actually doing much for Him other than listening. What I found was that this was ok. It’s ok to not know all the answers and to know that you need more of Him, so long as you actively seek Him. This is exactly what I had to do. I had to keep thinking, who am I serving today? How has Christ used me today? Have I let Him lead me today? What has He shown me today?
I quickly found that many more questions derrived from these questions as well, but they were a great starting point. The fact that our two leaders, Tony A & Tony B, asked us the questions each day also drilled it into our heads. So in searching with these questions each day, I started simply sitting and listening, not understanding what I was looking for. However dense my understanding, however, the Lord slowly revealed things to me, and kept hitting me over the head with the same idea over and over again- “Look”.
It was the first experience I’ve had where God has pointed out a specific word, and nothing more, to me. Usually, it’s a general idea or something, but no- He gave me only this word. I found, again to my surprise, that God can take something that’s seemingly unmeaningful to us and make it supernatural, which He definately did as we sought Him over the course of the week. There are too many stories to tell of how He accomplished all of this, which I hope to be able to also describe in detail, but this is a brief overview of my trip to Lakeshore Mississippi, where people fish for more than fish, and God exceeds all expectations.
Ok, well for those of you who were worried, don’t be I AM alive. I went down on my foot the wrong way during the final part of the finale of the final show in Restoration (great timing, right?). I knew it was broken because I couldn’t wiggle my small toe or flex my foot without pain. Thank you so much to everyone who helped me down stairs and with my stuff. I love you guys! My roommate took me to the hospital and I had a fun time making jokes with the nurses (Katelyn was a help with the fun aspect as well) and was able to tell several of them about Restoration!
y walking to the bus stop after class to go home, when I saw a crowd in the Tate courtyard and many students staring. I looked over to see a man on the platform, yelling at the group of students before him. I couldn’t even understand what it was he was saying- just that he was yelling. I saw as I walked that there was a young girl at the bottom of the platform talking intensely to him, as if she was trying to reason with him, but I couldn’t hear what she said at all because of the distance that separated us.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since Sunday at Watkinsville. First of all, let me say how amazing Sunday morning was at 
