Back from Louisiana........

Ok let's face it=I have been back from Louisiana for a little over a week now but it has been a hectic week of sharing what God did on the trip, fixing up the Jeep, and resting.

I think that it will take me a while to truly grasp all of the lessons that God taught me during this week. It was an amazing time of hard work, humbling reminders, and basking in God's presence. If you want to take a look at some pics from my trip to Louisiana or the rest of my 'Summer 06' adventure, click on my picture above!

We arrived in Baton Rouge on Saturday night so that we could go to worship on Sunday as well as have the day to recover from the 12 hour van ride from Abilene to Baton Rouge. The church we were partnering with-Fellowship Church in Prarieville, LA-was about 20 min away from our hotel and it was amazing to worship these people and see their heart for ministry and to feel God's presence in the room. It was a very moving service.

Monday brought about our first day on the jobsite and the beginning of what would have been problems for anyone other than GOD. Rain and overall wet weather in Louisiana (it was unbelievably humid and in the high 90's all week!) had led to the concrete slab not even being poured before we showed up. We walked on site to see the concrete crew pouring the slab. We were informed that this was not a problem=we would just build all of the walls on the ground and then lift them into place-keep in mind that this is a 15,000 square foot facility!

I walked around for a little bit not really knowing what to do, only knowing that I wanted to find a way to serve. (It is good to note here that the main theme from this trip is that the most important thing in serving God is to just be AVAILABLE!) I ended up latching on with a guy and his two sons-the Chaffins: Lawrence, and Spencer and Matt. We began to pound together the walls and I ended up helping to carry a lot of the heavy supports for the windows, doorways, and corner. I didn't find out until about 3/4 of way through the day that the reason these guys looked like they knew what they were doing is because they did=Lawrence builds houses and Matt and Spencer had been roofing for him all summer. They killed me on the first day. I ended up having some medical issues (too personal to mention here) and ended up taking Tuesday morning off.

When I returned to the worksite on Tuesday afternoon, I was really frustrated because I really believed that my attitude was one of just wanting to serve and I couldn't understand what God was trying to teach me as I watched others work. In my mind I could see things that I knew I could help with but had to accept the reality that physically I couldn't. In this time of humbling, I got my teaching lesson in the form of four guys who were working in the Wood Shop-Jon, Roy, Dewey, and Derek. None of these guys had ever worked in the Wood Shop before-they walked on to the site and found a way to serve. It didn't matter to them where they were serving or if they were even recognized for doing it. People needed boards cut to attach to the structure and they met that need-keep in mind that 3 of these guys are in their 70's! I was able to work along side and learn from these Godly men. I count myself honored to have served with them. I cannot wait to see them again next year wherever ChurchBuilders goes to serve next year.

I challenge each of you that reads this to pray about ways to serve-whether that be in the communities that you live OR by accompanying me to ChurchBuilders next year. Texas ChurchBuilders goes to serve the third week in July and has done so for every year for the last 30+ years. I hope to see you all there next year!!!