And So It Begins...

A team of 6 from my church at school  are traveling to Nicaragua this week to build a house. I'm grateful to be able to share that our adventure started off uneventfully. We all woke up around 4:15, piled into the cars and chowed some delicious bagel sandwiches that my sister made for us. (She's the bomb.) Our first flight left on time and we arrived in Houston at around 11 am. We walked a few laps around the airport, taking the express train to each terminal in search of the best place to eat. We had a 10 hour layover, so mostly we were just looking for ways to entertain ourselves.

We eventually found a cool Texas BBQ place that had delicious pulled pork. We lunched and then resumed galavanting around the airport. Amid our stint on a moving walkway, I noticed a familiar face standing along some of the gate benches. "Hey, that's Brene Brown!" I exclaimed, and she looked up at me. "Are you Brene Brown?" I asked eagerly, as the walkway slowly moved me down the hall. I convinced my group to track back to where she was. She graciously indulged my overly-enthusiastic fan behavior by agreeing to take a picture with us, wished us well on our mission trip, and then we left her to be with her family for their vacation. It was great. She is great. If you haven't read any of her books, check out Daring Greatly because it is brilliant, and follow up with a few of her Ted Talks. You won't regret it. 

My favorite part of our meeting was when my team member, Curt, introduced himself. She thought he said "Courage." "You're name is Courage? Mine's Vulnerability." LOL. 

So, one celebrity sighting later, we sought out a remote(ish) area with a place to plug in our phones, and commenced the card games, bible studying, naps, and other time fillers. I opened up to my favorite Old Testament book. 

The proverb of today (Proverbs 13) was vastly useful as we continue to pray and prepare our hearts to be servants. "The righteous eat to their hearts' content, but the stomach of the wicked goes hungry."

In America, we are undeniably rich. We have unlimited access to food, wealth and fortune, and are ever in pursuit of personal fame. But those things are comparatively unimportant. It's imperative that we remember that going to help the poor isn't about giving material goods, including food and shelter. It's about providing lasting sustenance to the spiritually starving. We have the gift of reconciliation with God, which grants eternal life. We can experience life on earth to the fullest with Jesus walking with us, and we have hope in eternity with him. Sharing His truth and gift with the poor is what makes these sacrificial trips worth it. The spiritual high is what keeps us coming back, knowing that sharing what we have doesn't decrease the richness of knowing Christ, but instead multiplies it. 

What other gift can do that?

 Please continue to pray for safety and effectiveness for our team members, as well as for interpersonal cohesiveness and joyful attitudes, as we venture out of our comfort zones.