Time of Re:flection

Do you know what bugs me? I told the guys this on our way to Alabama. I can't help but think that billboards that say "rent me" or "available" must not be that effective of billboards. While yes, I did read it, it obviously isn't doing a real great job or it wouldn't be empty... Maybe that's just how my mind works, but oh well.

Speaking of our trip though, last night both team 1 and team 2 came together to discuss our trips to Alabama for the first time for our church. We were all able to share our personal experiences and what meant the most to us in the trip. It was really good to hear the same stories I've had but from different perspectives and I really enjoyed the time we all got to stand up in front of our church and pour out our stories and thankfulness to them! I'm not sure there was a single person on the stage who grabbed that mic and after talking for a few moments weren't fighting away tears. With hundreds of pictures that were taken scrolling on the screens and each one of us sharing our own little story it was such an amazing time to truly relive our trip. I don't know if the congregation enjoyed it as much as I did, but I really enjoyed that time with the same group that we bonded with on our trip. It became a joke while we were there... One of the gentlemen who was with us, Jeff, was joking around with one of the women, Kim, and she replied to him, "Jeff, just because we go on one mission trip together doesn't mean we're going to be best friends forever." While all of us got an enormous laugh from this, it couldn't be farther from the truth. The time that we spent together in those rough circumstances did bring us together and honestly I think that anyone of us would be willing to leave tomorrow to go do it again.

Last night was a great time for me, I had a great time with the crew. The trip left tons of questions in my mind that I'll probably never know the answers to, but last night helped to reassure me that the good deeds we did up there outweigh the questions I might have.