Silence

I'm back in Louisville now, trying to recover from a couple of amazing weeks. Getting back is bittersweet. It's good to be somewhere relatively permanent, where I'm supposed to be, but leaving Mexico and New Orleans was so hard. I felt useful in those places, like I was needed. It gave me a hint of what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, but then it ended. It kind of feels like God is teasing me with my purpose.

After we said goodbye to the Mexico team on Saturday night, I went to the room I was sleeping in and all of a sudden I felt this utter hopelessness. I felt like I wasn't where I belonged, that somewhere I had taken a wrong turn, like I wasn't on the same page with God's plan for my life. The peace I'd had just hours before had turned to worry and fear. I felt alone. I hated it.

The next day when it was my turn to drive, and the others were asleep, I felt it again. Even the worship songs we were playing over the stereo were just a bunch of noise. So I turned off the radio and had a little quiet time with God. From just outside Houston, TX, to Jennings, LA, I talked with my Father. It was the most honest I've ever been with Him. It was the most honest I've ever been with myself. I held nothing back. It shook me up.

It was good to just be silent in the presence of God. To restore the peace of mind that had gone missing. To remember that His plans are better than mine, and that His dreams are bigger than mine. I realize now that it doesn't matter if God tells me my final destination. It only matters that He lets me know that I am on the right track. That's what He did with Abraham, and He has given me the same promise.

I may never truly know my purpose on earth. But as long as I pursue it, with God's help, I believe it will be accomplished. Who knows where He may lead me in the meantime? I can't wait to see . . .

So San Luis isn't happening. Oh well.

So we finished up the siding on the house in New Orleans, even though it poured down on us right as we were about to finish up, and the power went out so we couldn't cut the last piece. Then on Friday I did more yard work.

We got to Piedras Negras last Saturday night, and we had an amazing week. The groups were really cool. Everyone worked hard and nobody complained. I headed up the drywall mud crew. We made it into an art form. Almost got the house done.

Right now I'm in San Antonio, and tomorrow we'll be leaving for San Luis, Mexico, to have a few days of R&R. So that's exciting. The team down here invited us along, because we're so awesome.

So that's all. Bye.

title . . . goes . . . here?

Sorry it's been a while, but I haven't had internet access since Friday. Right now I'm in a shady internet café in Piedras Negras checking up on the world. The past week's been pretty sweet, and I'll run through that later when I don't have to type on a funky Mexican keyboard.

I love you all, I miss you all. Thanks for all the kind words and encouragement. It's good to hear from family and friends. Alright bye.

Never weedwhack with your mouth open.

Monday: I helped paint CrossRoads' new building. Not very exciting, but very hot.

Tuesday: Did street clean-up ministry. Most of the time was spent re-lining weedwhackers, but I had a few chances to take on the weeds myself. They were no match. Apparently I look like Eli Manning and Brady Quinn . . . ?

Wednesday: Worked on one of the houses under construction. I climbed a tall ladder and pried staples out of the exterior wall, and then used a nail gun to frame four second story windows. We were up on scaffolding and some contraption that rested on a couple of ladders. Uh . . . yeah. We only worked a half day, so after we cleaned up I went with 9 others to this place called Café Reconcile and had pot roast, which was super good. Then I took a nap in the afternoon and went to a local coffee shop in the evening. I didn't get anything at the coffee shop. Coffee is not good.

That's all.

a clever title for this post eludes me . . .

We arrived in New Orleans safely. It took us about twelve hours in all. Not too bad. I'll post more on the city later if I can. Once I have something to post, that is.

The entire day was kinda bittersweet because I got to come back to New Orleans (that's the sweet part) but I couldn't spend Father's Day with Dad or go to the Brad/Kyle graduation party. But whatev.

On a side note, who is this 'bonzo' character who commented a couple posts ago? I can't figure it out, but I'll get to the bottom of it. You better watch out, 'bonzo'. And by the way, thanks for the encouraging words. I WILL KNOW YOUR REAL NAME! But seriously, thanks for reading and commenting.

Week in Review

This week, my boss and my fellow intern were out of town, so I worked through CrossRoads' main office. We tiled and grouted the concession stand at Salvation Army's new building downtown and did some work on the sweet inner-city minivan. Then, yesterday, I drove about three hours up to New Carlisle, Ohio, which is about 15 miles north of Dayton. I met another CrossRoads staff person there and we led a Help Build Hope, and it was super fun. New Carlisle's population is under 5,000 according to the members of the church where we built the house. It's a town that has one main street, where most everything happens. Really cool.

Anyway, we did the build today, and I guess about 50 people showed up and helped us. The future homeowner and her son were able to be there, too, which was neat. My job was to answer any questions the workers had, and then help stand the house as the walls were built. I also used a router to cut out the windows and doors in the OSB siding, and did some other odds and ends. I wish I could have stayed for the benediction tomorrow, because I heard that they're a lot of fun, but I had to be back in Louisville tonight. The people in New Carlisle were really friendly, and it was good to see how this small church raised the money to build the house and then got the whole community involved in building it. Everybody had a good time. The weirdest thing for me was that everyone knew my name, but I could only remember a few of theirs. It was just kind of weird to be on the other side of one of these events. Being a leader and all that. I'll have to get used to it once we get groups in.

So it was a pretty good day. I built a house, used power tools, got a farmer's burn, got to listen to a lot of music during my drive, saw Jesus on I-75, and saw a Corvette Stingray on I-71. So yeah, I guess you could say that I had a pretty good day.

We leave for New Orleans tomorrow at 6:30. In the morning. Eleven hour drive. Then, next week, we'll head on over to Piedras Negras, Mexico, which is another eleven hours. After a week there, we'll come back to Louisville, spend a few days here, then go to Appalachia for a week. Busybusybusy.

Uh . . . yup.