Road Trip

I'm very excited for today.  First of all, it's Friday.  How much better can it be and added to that, there is literally NOTHING on the family calendar!  It's a simple regular work day for us, but as soon as all the girls leave and Only is done with school, we hitting the road!  Oh, it's not a huge,  spectacular, going to an event" kind of weekend, but rather going to a place we love.  Actually, we're going to see my cousin Raine.

Ever since I was little, I have loved her.  We were playmates, wrote letters to each other (using actual postage stamps and everything), roomed in the same college dorm, she has been my encourager, and I have been blessed to be her cousin, but also her friend. My family knows I refer to her as The Favorite.

Some of this trip has happened because I need to get away, I need to check on my mother who lives close by, and I realize that I don't have as much time to spend with Only with the changes coming in the next few years, as she is in college.  I'm not exactly sure what is going to happen on this trip, and some of it I am anxious about, but mostly I'm looking forward to it greatly!

Young Adult Memories: Mischief, home, and disguises

This is week three of “My Young Adult Years,” guest hosted by Ginny Marie over at Lemon Drop Pie. Each Monday or Tuesday, I will be posting on my Young Adult Life edition of Mommy's Piggy Tales.

 We were surrounded by poverty, crime, bigotry, drugs, and kids who were desperate for real love, attention, and a way out. If we chose to dwell on what surrounded us, it would consume us and we would enable the repressed spirit that resided there. Last week I shared my heart in Inner-city, The Pit, and Irreversible impressions   It has been terribly hard to just choose a few memories, but here are a few more.

"Camps are dedicated to providing safe and structured environments where young people can grow academically, socially, emotionally and spiritually. It is the building of a city... One Child at a time."  Urban Promise

Retreat in the Pocono Mountains - 1st year

The neighborhood kids could hardly help themselves. A group of strangers had descended on their block and they not only talked funny, but they didn't have a clue. 

• The first week, a few of the elementary boys broke into our battered blue van and decided to steal it. Lack of experience on their part caused it to roll backward down the drive, across the street and into the neighbor's fence. 
• During camp, the kids tried to escape and run away, and after hours, they tried to break into the building we stayed at.  
• Once, we came home one early evening to find two kids having sex out back under that stairs - the girl was 6 and the boy was 12.  Another late one evening, after our weekly Philly meeting, we found some of the kids had smeared dog poop on EVERY doorknob. 
• We were graciously given head lice, which we didn't discover until we were in standing on Broadway in NY City. 
• One of the older kids brought a golf club onto the grounds and was swinging it (after hours) and hit another child in the mouth. We were sure we were going to be sued over that one. 

From Montica:  The thing I remember most about it (Camp Hope) was Raul. A little 8 year old boy who threw rocks at me but I would not give up on him. He told me he knew nothing about this Jesus I was talking about. We sat on the stoop of a home near the church and I told him about Jesus. I heard later he graduated from school and was helping at the church. 

Ewww!  It was SO gross down there.

Our building had three distinct floors that we shared with the cockroaches: Basement had the kitchen, small stage, and eating area. Mont and I spent almost 2 days cleaning it the 2nd year we returned.  That's what we got for returning a week earlier than everyone.  Second floor had two classrooms, which we used for a boys and girls sleeping quarters with a large closet separating the rooms, plus a questionable toilet. Creaking wooden stairs led to the Third floor which was open with a larger stage, baptistry, and a bathroom with a shower. Can you imagine 12 of us sharing 1 shower? Getting up early to beat everyone else to a cold 5 minute shower was the key. Sometimes we would be sitting on the stairs, half asleep, waiting for someone to get out.  Nightly we would gather upstairs to discuss the day, handle any conflicts, laugh, prepare for the next day, and have devotions.  It was that time that we looked forward to, but it was a time to relax and really talk about real issues and struggles in our personal lives. It was where we bonded.  Sometimes Robert or Frank would bring their guitars and we would sing or just listen, sometimes we cried, sometimes we laughed, but always we listened. The fire escape off that floor led to condemned stairs, just right for catching a breeze in the evenings, watching a hot-air balloon float across the sky, or just waiting for God to speak.

 A teacher's major contribution may pop out anonymously in the life of some ex-student's grandchild.  A teacher, finally, has nothing to go on but faith, a student nothing to offer in return but testimony.  Wendell Berry

Nurse Nadine cares for "baby" Jeff.

Teen Helpers: In efforts to encourage and mentor the teens in that area, we had Teen Helpers at each station and age group.  We tried to do special things with them - taking them to the beach, including them in camp responsibilities, and fun events planned just for them.  It was a learning process for all of us that was not always without some tension, but usually with some fun.  Once, we planned a mall search  with them, but we were met with unexpected resistance.  Each of us dressed in disguise and the helpers were supposed to find us, obtain our signature, and the one who found the most won.  Some were easy, but Jeff and Nadine was the most difficult to find. Yes, Jeff is the one in the baby buggy, complete with pacifier and all! The saddest part of all, is that we were asked to leave because we had kids with us who was not white.

Thank you so much for stopping by and taking their journey with me. If you'd like to check out Camp Hope, it has since grown, and is now called UrbanPromise.  Last year they were featured on Extreme Makeover, Home Edition. Where it started from and where it is now amazes me and I'm thrilled that God has taken this ministry from a meager 12 people to an organization of mega proportions it is today. 

If you would like to read more Piggy Tales from other ladies, hope on Over to Mommy's Piggy Tales.   If you would like to join in and start recording your own Piggy Tales, contact Jana at Mommy's Piggy Tales to find out how  (jannajoy25 (at) hotmail.com). If for some reason you missed any of my previous posts, you can find them here.

Two in Belize, one at home

Only with friends, ready to fly out!

Today I put Only on the plane to Belize, a country in Central America, where she and 19 20 others in this group, will join  Oldest, Steven, and our youth minister, Tim, as they serve on a short-term mission trip. You can read about their experiences here.  

Almost immediately when Oldest landed, I started receiving emails and Facebook updates.  His fan ceased to work sometimes in the flight, and they quickly learned that the area they are in was receiving an incredible amount of rain - making it a mud bath adventure.  He requested that Only bring him a new fan, his work tennis shoes, more triple antiobiotic ointment, and more bug spray.  Good thing he had a sister joining him to bring this to him!  I told Only last night that I had no way to bring her anything she might have forgotten!  She just rolled her eyes and giggled.

So with eager anticipation, she started packing on Thursday, and was anxious to begin this journey. Something different about this trip, is that it is mainly for evangelism, unlike the trip last year, where a group of men built a church.  She was overwhelmed at first, not knowing what exactly to pack.  She likes to know how many shirts, skirts, etc, to take, but all she had was a general list.

Farewell hug from the Princess

  Long story short, Princess Izzy returned this week, so Only was thrilled to see her before she left.  She didn't quite understand Sissy leaving on something called a "plane". 

I didn't get to stay around until they prayed with the group before they walked through the loading gate like with Oldest. I had a Hearing test, since mine came back slightly abnormal last month.  Turns out, I couldn't take the test today because I had The Princess with me and the test would take over an hour and I couldn't move, or be distracted,  or have her in the room with me and they didn't want me to leave her in the waiting room with Youngest (totally understand)/ *sigh*  Rescheduled to take it in a few weeks.

One wonderful surprise was  our senior minister, showed up this morning, and it didn't surprise us that he was there, as we expected him to be there to pray with our kids.  What surprised us is that he had his own BAGS packed and had been GIVEN free passage to Belize and back by a family from church whose dad is a pilot!!!  What a blessing!  Central Christian has been exploring Belize as a possible mission field to connect with the current missionary there, support, and help establish a thriving congregation.  We are so excited for the opportunities to reach and work with the people in Belize! 

With the wonders of technology, I was able to track her plane as it crossed the Gulf of Mexico and knew immediately when she landed! The plan was that both Teams would be at the Belize airport at the same time, one coming, the other leaving, and would take a HUGE group picture at that time.  

JUST IN via Text from Belize!  There have officially arrived and are on the road in Belize, but stopped at Cheers - AGAIN!!!  

 Saturday, Oldest posted on FB: Snorkeling off the coast of Belize in the second largest barrier reef in the world with sharks, stingrays, barracudas, and other fish. Now if only our bus will start...

Later:  Swam with sharks, stingrays, sea turtles, and lots of fish today. Saw a moray eel and had raw conch for lunch. Pretty good day.

 Sunday:  Could really stay every sunday in Belize just to hear a sermon like today again. It was really good.

This update was posted Wednesday by a friend who . 

Team 1 landed in Belize Mon., Aug. 2 around 3:40 p.m. (they are an hour behind us).  They started toward Roaring Creek compound, where they were going to be staying.  On their way they stopped in a village and ate at a restaurant named "Cheers" according to Tim Beasely it is named after the 1980's sitcom.  He said the food was good and cheap; he had a quesadilla and a bottle of water for $4.  When it was time to leave the bus wouldn't start and ended up needing a mechanic which took a few hours because the closet one was an hour away.  So around 8:45 p.m. they were on their way to their first destination.  It rained that night and he said the rain was very loud because the place they were staying had a tin roof.  But he did say it was beautiful there, but a very poor place.

  Yesterday he worked on building a block bathroom for the building that the team last year built.  He said he has bug bites all of him (bug spray is only working for mosquitoes), there is a bug that bites you and you don't know you've been bitten until you see your arm or leg bleeding.  It was hot there but not to bad.  He drank water from a coconut, he cut it open with his knife, and he also ate a fresh lime from a tree.  He said it was good but drinking from a coconut was a little strange.  He said the food has been good; fresh tortillas for breakfast and then for dinner they had a stew chicken and beans with rice (it's not like our rice and beans) it's a traditional Belizian food.  The little kids there make him very sad and he says we don't know how good we have it.  He said God is opening his eyes to a lot of things while he is there.  He didn't get to share with people yesterday but he said he witnessed other sharing and it was a humbling sight to see the children being receptive.

      The village they stayed their first 2 nights was one hour from Belmopan and is one of the oldest villages in Belize.  They speak mostly English.  It is very muddy, dirty and poor.  The children play in very nasty water and with chickens.  The men in the village walk around at night with lit matches, he said it was very intimidating at first, seeing that a lot of the village has houses with thatch roofing others have tin roofs.  He said there are a few nicer houses and some slums, but our house would be a mansion. The sun rises around 5 a.m. and sets around 6:30 p.m.  One funny thing is that he's learned geckos bark and the monkeys make a loud funny noise.  He said it's pretty funny.  The evenings have been nice and cool.

         Today they are leaving for the southern compound which is 3 hours south of Roaring Creek.  They have to travel over a low water bridge which is the only way in and out, so pray that there aren't any floods because if the river floods they can't get back out until the waters recede.  The village where they will stay makes the Roaring Creek compound look like the Hilton; it's very remote in the mountains and jungle.

    

 Thank you for just reading through this long post, and if you have a moment, can you say a prayer for this group of kids. They've worked very hard all summer to have this opportunity, and some of them have turned down jobs just so they could go.  My prayer is that not only will God allow His work to continue there, but to really work in the hearts of these kids, that they will be influenced to not look so much to themselves, but to serve others, and that this will influence their decisions on where and how they will work after college! 

Belize 2010: Typical Church Trip

Today we put Oldest on the plane, along with 19 others for a 2-part mission trip to Belize, a Central American Country. Some of these kids have never been on a plane or out of the country, but they are going during the hottest part of the summer to work with a missionary: Sport camps, VBS, lots of time with native kids, scraping and painting a building, witnessing, and reaching out in an area where there is a church building but no congregation. 

Caleb and Steven

Mixing cement and building walls

Oldest and his best friend, Steven, along with Tim (youth minister) have been planning this for months. They were in the initial work trip in the village of More Tomorrow last year that built a church for an existing congregation, as part of Steven's Eagle Scout project. It was extremely physically hard work, mixing cement on the ground, setting walls on an existing foundation, and hoisting rafters by hand. They were thrilled to complete the project and receive updates through out this last year. I know they are looking forward they will visit the village where they worked, see friends they made, and revisit the church they built.

Rafters and beams

Completed Church

If you think about it, please pray for them. That they kids on this trip will be able to see past the heat and the meek conditions, and focus on the real reason they are there. That God will touch each of their hearts and use this trip to plant seeds as to how He leads and shapes them in the direction He wants them to go in the great adventure of their lives.

Last night I received an email from Oldest:

Hola from Belize. It's been a long day, but we're finally settled down at the compound. Had a safe trip down here.  Tomorrow we start the sports camp and construction on something.
We're supposed to go down to the southern compound on Wednesday which isn't as luxurious as this northern one, but it sounds like a challenge. We'll see the church tomorrow. Less luxury means no wifi and no good plumbing. Can't flush toilet paper (outhouse).

The Belize Mission Trip Blog:
Belize 2010: Typical Church Trip: "We stopped today at Cheers (yes they stole their logo from the early late '80s/early '90s) to have a snack and something to wet the whistle....

When it was time to get into the bus to press on toward the Roaring Creek Compound,,,,the bus wouldn't start. We prayed. The bus didn't start. The grown men all looked at the engine,it is in the back and grunted and spit and talked like we were diesel mechanics. The bus didn't start. Uncle Steve came back with his Leatherman pocket tool, and moved us all out of the way so he could work without any hindrance. It is amazing what you can accomplish with a Leatherman pocket tool. Now the bus won't start and there is damage to the wiring, too."

Under attack for God

I spoke with a dear friend this morning.  She seemed to dog-gone weary.  In the early morning grogginess she explained what had transpired in the last 12 hours since I had last seen her.  You could hear the weariness in her voice.  With a few kids to contend with,six to be exact, schedules, an ongoing difficulty with a pesky health issue, projects due, funds to be raised for upcoming mission trip, curriculum to think about for next month...


Another friend has had the similar struggles with projects to get done, unexpected vehicle issues, kids, schedule changes, curriculum to think about for next month, funds to raise for upcoming mission trip... faulty wiring, and wait... it gets better!  Her dryer quit working today!





Wait, they both have kids going on this mission trip! In less than a month two groups of kids and adults from church (22 altogether), Oldest and Only included, are traveling to the southern part of Belize, in Central America.  Each group, staying for one week, will work closely with the missionary already established there, sharing about God in the villages of San Isidro and Bella Vista. Tim (our youth minister), Oldest, and Steven will stay the entire two weeks as coordinators of the project.
So what do the two have to do with each other?  It really seems that many families who have a child/children/spouse going on the trip have been under attack by little and big things and it's wearing them down.

Oldest and Only have been working to raise their support to go.  We told them from the beginning that we didn't have the funds to send two kids on this trip - shoot, we don't have the extra funds to even send one child!  Just today I took Only and "J" to a home so they could pull weeds in a family's garden.  They were hot, dirty, and tired when I picked them up!  Tomorrow they will clean a house and Only will spend the next two days helping a teacher move from one school to another.  Some of the kids have taken summer jobs, part time jobs, writing letters, mowing lawns, "Slave for a Day" projects (people from church call with projects they need a student to do)  all to fund this trip to tell others about Jesus.  

This will not be a cushy summer trip to a tropical retreat.  Oldest found out last summer from his 2 week trip there that it is extremely hot, there are HUGE bugs and snakes that like to hide out in the outhouses, and they worked from 4 a.m. until sometimes 8 p.m., amenities are minimal. Granted  there will not be as much physical labor to do this time, but Satan is already worried because he's been after the families and kids. There is a lot of spiritual tug-a-war going on... makes me wonder what awesome things are going to come from this trip! I know this is a terrific opportunity for the kids to experience life on the mission field, and while it is short term, it will make an impact on their lives.

Are there any battles going on in your life?  If you think about it, can you pray for the kids and their families? 


Simply,

One of those days...

I know I'm not the ONLY one that is having one of THOSE days...

• not funny

got info in the mail from The Scooter Store (I'm only 42 and "perfectly" healthy)

• disbelief

dog escapes and makes friends with a skunk

• Headache

packing for a trip and still doing laundry

• heartache

friend from church died from massive heart attack last night

• Praise

McMama from My Charming kids had a Healthy baby boy yesterday!

• Thankful

School is over for the day, the dryer works, and I am loved

• Grateful

Jesus will sustain me and love me in my failings

Super Band!

Okay, I'm a mom, so I just have to brag just a bit. This last Saturday, the VB Highschool Band (of which Caleb is part of) went to the 2008 Broken Arrow Invitational, Broken Arrow, OK. Claire and I joined Treasia, a good friend whose son was also in the band, to watch them perform. We're so glad that we did! The weather was perfect and just a slight chill at night. There were 30 bands performing representing 4 states and there were some really impressive. Two bands had a Christian Theme: Jerico and Between Heaven and Earth and the story of each was very clear! The VB Band was the only band that performed without Drum Majors, but that is another story. In the initial Preliminaries, VB placed 4th and took 1st in their AA class, taking 1st in Musical, and Visual Performance, and General Effect. They advanced to Finals Competition (12 bands) and we were just astonished that they placed 3rd!!!!!! Last year they placed 5th, and there were so many really good bands there this year. We loved seeing all the exciting costumes and watching the wonderful formations and songs. What a great way to top off the weekend! Way to go Band!

Weekend Away makes my heart race

He stood there grinning and showed me the papers... tickets to Talladega Superspeedway. My first thought was when and who was going to go with him. There are so many guys that would jump at the chance to go with him, so I asked him... "YOU! I want you to go with me!" I could see the honesty in his eyes, but still I gave him 2 weeks and plenty of suggestions - Mike, Les, Jeff, his dad... but still he insisted he wanted me to go. See, this is not the first time he's won tickets to Talladega, but the 4th time since 1995, and I had yet to go with him. Something always kept me here - injury or new baby. Finally it was my turn, and I'm so glad I went. I had never been to Alabama before. We had 4 wonderful days to ourselves! Kids gladly stayed with friends and didn't want us to come home, though Grandma and Grandma were a wee bit tired from keeping Connor for us. I'm not going to bore you with all we did, but here's a hint

the Talladega race

watching the movie Fireproof at 10 p.m. eating at Hardrock Cafe in Memphis time to laugh and talk

staying on McCollough Blvd.

(dear friends with this last name)

getting up at 5 a.m. to go to a NASCAR race

began reading The Shack

trying new places to eat

beautiful sunsets

lots of walking!

Sonic Sweet tea & SoBe Green Tea

being among enemies in a friendly land

(Old Miss and Alabama were playing football this last weekend)

We're so thankful to our dear friends and Dave's parents who took our children without a blink of the eye and gave us much needed time.