Flyin' High

I’ve always said, “I wish that I had really cool things to write about. Then I would have a blog.” But today I was thinking, and I decided that I may not be that cool, but in the past few months I’ve had some really awesome things happen to me. The most recent of these was the BCM Spring Break mission trip to New Orleans. I didn’t really know what to expect going into this trip, but any preconceptions were quickly proven wrong. It did not take long, and by that I mean it took about 30 minutes, for me to realize that my plans/desires and God’s most definitely do not always line up. I started out in the Sprinter. I was really excited about the group. We even had trivia and homemade cookies! But before we even made it off of 316, the Sprinter decided to stop sprinting. So the group was split up, and I ended up spending the rest of the trip in a different bus. Before we made it out of Georgia, I knew that I was in for quite an adventure beyond anything I could have planned or imagined.

On the other side of the sign, it said "God is awesome."
I didn't get the chance to take a photo, but I loved it.

When I was placed on a construction team, I immediately thought of hammers, power tools, and/or demolition. I’m not going to lie; I was pretty excited about it. Needless to say, I was a little (or a lot) upset when I learned that construction teams 4 and 5 would be spending the week at Williams Boulevard Baptist Church, painting walls and moving around some furniture, books, and creepy puppets. On our first two work days I was under the impression that while our actions were nice and helpful to the church, in the big picture they were petty and meaningless. But the longer we spent at the church, and the more we talked to the staff, especially Tommy, the only maintenance man for the massive building, I realized just how wrong my thinking was. Basically, this church and its people are amazing. It is so obvious that they put God before themselves in everything they do. Immediately after Katrina, they housed and fed the National Guard for six months. I can’t even begin to fathom what a monstrous undertaking that must have been. Every day it seemed like I learned about another one of their incredible ministries. By Wednesday I was convinced that our work was anything but meaningless. If a fresh coat of paint helps the church reach more people and spread the love of God, then I was happy to help. If all we did was make Tommy’s job a little easier, then I considered the week to be successful. Before we left the church on Friday afternoon, we prayed with Tommy, and his emotion was the highlight of my week. Our efforts were a blessing to him, but just being around him was a blessing to me, and I’m sure the rest of Team 9 feels the same way. His dedication to his church, his community, and his God is so inspiring to me. The city of New Orleans has been through so much, but I have no doubt that God is working in the Big Easy.

We painted this room and 5 more I think. This one was originally
lime green, hot pink, and orange. This is 3 coats of primer and 2
coats of Cinnamon Cake later.

I had so much fun this week, during the day and in our free time. Like Tommy said to us, “If you don’t have fun on a mission trip, you’ll never go on another one.” Through some funny experiences (tow truck, pterodactyl, sugar packets?) to some pretty sketchy ones (lost in the French Quarter on St. Patrick’s Day night?) I had an amazing time with some of the coolest people I know. Construction Team 9 (teams 4 and 5 joined into one huge group) was such a blessing to me. I really enjoyed getting to know such awesome people, new faces and people that I really didn’t know very well before. After countless coats of Cinnamon Cake and Wild Porcini, five iPod shuffle hours, hearing “Grenade” about 100 times, throwing random objects onto a trailer from a third-floor balcony, and a really cool gang sign, I was sad to be split up at the end of the week.

Although heading back to Athens was bittersweet, I took away some great lessons and memories. I’ll never forget sitting in the hallway giggling from a few too many paint fumes, or taking a little “detour” on the way back to the hotel one day (I heart diesel!), or calling the Dawgs on the steps in front of St. Louis Cathedral. But most importantly, I will take away the lesson that God should be given the glory for everything I do. My desire to do something other than paint some rooms in a church was gone by the end of the week. God knew what he was doing when he led my team to Williams Boulevard. It doesn’t matter if our efforts were noticed or not. Some people at the church probably will not even notice them, and if they do, they won’t know who was there all week. While at one point in my life, I would have liked for people to know how hard I worked or what all my team accomplished, this trip reminded me that that’s not important. We did God’s work this week, whether we understand our role or not.

Team 9 flies high for life!

As I reluctantly go back to class in the morning, I go back with the feeling that my BCM family and I glorified God this past week, whether anyone else knows about it or not. My pride took a major shot this week, and that’s a good thing. My life is not to be spent pursuing my own glory, but glorifying my Heavenly Father with everything I do. It feels good to know that He is control. If I was the mastermind behind this mission trip, I’m sure it would have been a failure of epic proportions. Good thing the big guy upstairs has everything in his hands.