NOLA: Conversations & Sharing

Park City team painting Arianne's house.

This past week was crazy and amazing. I was stretched and challenged even further in my faith, practical knowledge, and relationships. Looking back, I see the week was characterized by conversations. There is a continual thread through each day of different moments with different people where conversation happened. Each one was a God thing. Did I mention that I wanted to grow in this area? :) 

 It all started with meeting a friend of a friend in city Saturday morning. Teresa and I had never met, but a mutual friend set us up to meet. It turned into a sweet time of fellowship and conversation. We have a lot in common and I was so encouraged by her story and example. 

It continued Sunday, as I greeted the newly arrived teams and gave them tours of the church/warehouse. Meeting so many new people at once and being responsible for their first impression and conveying all the pertinent information to them was daunting, but I found myself enjoying it. Getting to know them through the week was easier because I had already met them. 

On Monday, I picked up Jaelin and Marissa from the airport. These two lovely girls are the interns up in Staten Island, NY, this summer, and they came down to NOLA for a week long visit. I got to show them around the various jobsites and introduce them to volunteers and staff. At lunch we each shared our testimony with each other. I truly enjoyed getting to know these two and share the week with them. 

Gabriela and I scraping paint!

Also on Monday, I had a conversation with Nelson, a staff member. He has a gift for seeking out a person's gifts and helping them find a direction and purpose for them. We talked along these lines. He suggested that I take my passion for gardening/farming/growing things and apply it to ministry; something I have given quite a bit of thought to in the past. He also connected me with a friend of his in Chile, who is starting a ministry through her family's farm. I know the conversation was God breathed, and I am taking it seriously and praying over it. I don't know where it will lead, but the possibilities are so exciting. 

Gabbers, Janine, and I: ready for work!

One of our teams this week was made up of four ladies from Michigan, who came down specifically to help LeAnn, our cook, in the kitchen. Janine, Becca, Sarah, Gabriela, and I clicked immediately. I had so much fun talking to them this week, getting to know them, and just being weird with them. (*wink) I went into the city with them on Wednesday to work on a site. I think I will always remember being up on a scaffold, scraping paint, and laughing with Janine and Gabbers, and at lunch, when Janine shared her testimony. I also got to sit with one of the homeowners, Mrs. Eddie Lee, and hear a bit about her Katrina story. She is such a sweet, gentle little person. We are in the process of re-painting her front porch, and it is a joy to work with her. 

Other conversations this week, included working all day with Jaelin on Thursday, spending Friday touring the city with the Michigan girls, talking with Maggie (a volunteer) several times this week, and just getting to know more volunteers than I have any other week this summer. I have also shared my story this week more than any other week. I am growing to enjoy it and see the way it can impact and encourage those around me. God really is doing a work there! It is challenging to share how God is working in my life, and sometimes scary, but each time I tell it, it gets easier. I find myself praying for the words to remain fresh and new, and for the courage to go deeper each time. 

(two more stories, and then I'm done. Promise. :) 

On Saturday, all the interns plus Mark & Katie Manning (our bosses/mentors) and Ernie & Jessica Schutte (staff members) went to a local lake for swimming, canoeing, and kayaking. Guys, I found a new love. Kayaking is SO AMAZING! Being on the water, paddling along, and being with all these people that I love.... it was an incredible day. Being the creative bunch we are, there were water balloons launched from three-kayak-platforms, balance contests on canoes, noodle fights while standing on kayaks, rodeos on Shamu the blowup whale, and fish spearing with canoe paddles. You get the picture. ;) 

Our adventure in the city included lunch here

My big God moment this week happened on Thursday. After a long day of work up on a three-level scaffold, I stayed up there all alone for some thinking time. As I looked out over the city, thinking of the future and all the options that have opened up for me, it hit me that my life is crazy! Three years ago I never would have pictured myself in New Orleans working for a ministry. Never. But here I am. And God did that. As I thought again of the future, I also realized: I don't have a choice. In where I go, in what I do, or who I do it with. My choice was made when I decided to follow Jesus instead of build my own life. I am His, and this life is His to do with as He pleases. This thought is both scary and freeing. To know and acknowledge that God has all control in my life frees me from having to worry. Because I know that the God of the universe has every detail in His more than capable hands. 

I only have two weeks left in this beautiful place, and my deepest prayer is that it would be the best two weeks of the summer. I want to be able to focus on being all here and not be focused on my impending homeward journey. I still have much to learn here before returning home, and much to apply and live out once I get there. Thank you again, everyone, for your prayers and support. The summer truly would not be possible without every single one of you. God bless!