Nothing Much...

Nothing too too exciting is happening in my life this week. I've just been trying to get back in the groove of things. Classes have flown by and I'm finding myself having to catch up on assignments. Work is still going well, and I think I'm even getting better at waitressing. Today the different teams from the mission trip got together to fellowship and share each group's experiences. It was very neat to see pics and hear everyone's experiences. That in itself was a wonderful witness. Thank you everyone, for praying for all the teams!

Above is a picture I took while in Memphis. I had never been there before although I had been to TN once. Everything there was just so beautiful...I loved the red brick everywhere. The team got to eat at a pretty good restaurant, and watch a movie in the biggest theater I've ever seen. Yes people, that was the first time I have ever seen a stadium seating theater of that calibur. What can I say, I was raised in Lufkin and have lived a sheltered life! By the way, Failure to Launch--not so good. Anyway, I enjoyed it a lot! Especially walking down Beale St. at night. Every restaurant and pavillion had a live blues band playing. Oh,oh....and the neon lights were so pretty too!

Below is a pic of some of the children in Jonestown. They were very sweet natured even though at times they would act very scary. These 3 kids were especially nice and even followed us around the neighborhood. You can tell how materialism is important to them--the youngest got out a wad of $1's just to take a pic. Again I say: I really hope those children as well as their parents saw Christ's love last week.

I'm Back, By the Way...

As my title says: I am back! I couldn't have thought of a better way to spend my Spring Break and I am so so glad that I mustered up the courage to ask off right after getting hired. Just in case you weren't paying attention to my other blogs or have just forgotten because it has been so long: this Spring Break I went on Grace Bible's annual Spring Break mission trip. We teamed up with Habitat for Humanity's Collegiate Challenge and were able to send out 5 groups of 10 students. (you are correct Justin, that does make 50) Speaking of Justin, we had both mutually decided before hand that we were going to split up for this trip. Wait, let me clerify that: we did not "break up" we were just in two different groups. Why did we do this? Well, we thought it would be easier to make more friends that way. Hey, now we have more stories to tell each other anyway!

My group--Team Tiger--went to Jonestown, Mississippi. (can you spell that backwards?) Wow, when we got there we realized just how different it was than we could have ever imagined. Jonestown was the most poverished town that I have been able to see with my own eyes. The kids don't even go to school! The houses there are horrid, and the local grocery store buys out-of-date food to sell. We had to go 30 minutes out of town just to buy supplies, groceries, and drinking water.

I'm not going to walk you through my everyday experience in Jonestown so you can keep reading without fear of too much boredom. My heart ached for the children of Jonestown...their houses were unlivable in our eyes, but their parents had enough money to buy fancy cars. The Wal-Mart in Clarksdale was the nicest place around.

My experiences this Spring Break will last a lifetime. I made new friends, saw places that I've never seen before, and learned many new things about the Lord. Not everything was perfect, but I loved this mission trip! I can say that now a few days later, but I have to admit that the day I got back I was a little bitter. Other groups were sleeping in cabins, canoeing, and made a lot of progress on their habitat house. We slept in what a lot of people would call a "ghetto", had to be escorted by a male most of the time, and made very very little progress on this house that has been under construction for 2 years. If you would look at things on the surface it would seem that my group accomplished little. God had his reasons why he put us in Jonestown. I can understand that now. Maybe, just maybe, we planted a seed somewhere. Hopefully the children were able to get a taste of God's love. And the fact that 50 college students spent their Spring Break working instead of laying out on the beach is a witness to other as well. So many good things for the Lord can come out of what we did...so I'm really not that bitter anymore. Heck...I would do it all over again!!

Spring Break At Last!

FINALLY! All of my midterms are over AND I am all packed for the treck into Lufkin tonight when I get off of work. My parents don't know that I am going home tonight so it will be a surprise when they wake up in the morning. After work the rest of my weekend should be a breeze. Tomorrow Justin and I have to go shopping for the mission trip (the only problem is I need to ask my mom if I can borrow some money...I hope she will lend me some) and then Saturday night Justin and I are going on a date before we part for a week. I am excited about the mission trip, but I will miss him too. O-o-o-okay, I better get goin'....if I don't blog tomorrow, I will be blogging after the trip! BYE!

How Would You Like Your Eggs?

This week has been very busy between school, training @ work, and just thinking about decisions that need to be made. Friday night was my first night on the floor by myself as a waitress, and so far I LOVE this job! I don't mind being on my feet all night b/c it makes the time go by very fast. With this job I get to just help people, and tidy up. Hey, it even reminds me of a game I used to play on the computer where you were the waitress and you had to sit everyone and give them their food as fast as possible. I'm a dork, but it's fun!

Today was my 2nd meeting with the team for the Spring Break Mission Trip. I can't say enough how much I enjoy the way we are going about everything from raising support to preparing ourselves for the actual trip. This is gonna be a great Spring Break and I can't wait!

I've been having to think a lot of things over this week. (sorry for being so vague) The one thing that I really want to learn though is how parents are suppose to treat their children--in all aspects--Biblically. I don't mean on decisions like when are the children suppose to start dating or anything like that. I mean: what are the parents suppose to provide for their children? How do healthy families act? Are the parents responsible for their children over the age of 18? I know a lot of those things are up to the parents and are a matter of opinion.....just something I've been thinking about.

Oh, I have a little side job now. For only a couple hours every other day or so I sit in a room at disability services and read text books out loud to be recorded. It isn't the most interesting job in the world, but it helps the visually impaired students AND earns a little bit of money. Well, I've gotta go to bed b/c I've gotta be up early to read and go to class!

Good News

A lot of people already know this, but IHOP hired me Monday. I am so excited! I don't feel like a lazy bum anymore, I can pay all of my bills, and no more applications for a while! YAY! This will be my first time to work with food ever. I'm actually really nervous about it because when it comes to food people are picky, and HUNGRY! I am also a klutz. My first day on the job was yesterday so I showed up in my TredSafe shoes, black paints, boy dress shirt, and a pink tie. Luckily my trainer is my friend Kali who worked at ETI with me. She is very very sweet, and according to the managers the best server. The manager plans on getting me on the floor by myself by Saturday because she really needs the help, so I have a lot of homework to do in the meantime. (memorizing the menu and the 6 Service Steps)

MORE good news: I actually still get to go on the GBC CrossPoint Spring Break Mission Trip! I am super excited about that. My team is going to Mississippi...yep, that's right, a 7 hour drive! I just love how Michael puts the mission trips together. We are handed a notebook that has everything we need in it. Our team will be taught how to write support letters to raise the money, and we will be meeting every week to have a devo and just get to know each other. We also learn a lot about the place we are going to before hand. For instance, my place is drenched in poverty and Justin's place was hit pretty hard by the hurricane. I have so much more to say about this, but I need to go get ready for work. BYE!