Wow.

In two days I will be on the other side of the world.

When I got to work this morning, one of my co-workers asked me if I was excited.

"Yes!!"

Then she asked if I was nervous.

"Yes!!"

I'm very excited about the mission trip part of this trip. I'm a little nervous about the staying-in-a-foreign-country-with-people-I-don't-know-who-speak-another-language part of this trip.

Two thoughts calm me: 1. They are probably just as nervous to have someone they don't know staying with them. 2. They are really just brothers and sisters in Christ that I haven't met yet.

Brandon Heath has a new song out that begins "comfortable, don't get comfortable" and later on says "you're gonna live like you used to dream." I had that song on my mind last night as I was cluttering my apartment with my "packing piles." I got in the car this morning and the first thing I heard..."comfortable, don't get comfortable." And then Jars of Clay's "Love in Any Language"...and then the morning guy commenting on the significance of that song for people on international missions trips...and then the Newboys' "He Reigns" ("...the song of Asian believers, filled with God's holy fire; it's every tribe, every tongue, every nation; a love song born of a grateful choir...") and then I just had to say "I get it. Thank You."

This trip has been so much harder to prepare for than any in the past. Most of the mission trips I've been on have been the bring-your-old-clothes-to-work-in type. This trip is more the need-to-look-nice-everyday-but-be-able-to-work-with-kids-and-always-be-prepared-to-leave-your-shoes-at-the-door type. And there are so many little details. Like finding out if your insurance is international. Needing a converter for electric outlets. Getting used to wearing a watch again (my time piece, the cell phone, would just be a paper weight in Korea.) And not knowing what the food will be like. (Just in case, my suitcase has a stash of power bars, granola bars, and dried fruit. Just in case.)

I hope to be able to update my blog while I'm there, but it's another unknown. I may be able to update everyday, or I may not be able to until I get home. Just keep checking.

The Sunsphere

The other day I had (another) training day downtown. Usually when I work at a branch, I drive to a park and eat lunch there; when I'm in training I eat lunch with a friend. I was in this training with a friend, but she only had to come to the after-lunch sessions, so I was on my own. I decided eating in my car in the parking garage would be better than the break room in the "training basement." I was a little disappointed I couldn't go to a park and thought I'd only have a view of cars and concrete. Boy, was I wrong! I got into my car, opened my lunch box, looked up and there was the sunsphere. I've seen the sunsphere a hundred times (even once from the inside), but I had never seen it like this. The garage was bordered by a half wall of concrete topped with a decorative rod-iron gate. The design of the gate in front of my car included a circle that perfectly framed the sunsphere. That in itself was cool, but then I started really looking at the sunsphere. And it was amazing. Every panel was reflecting the view below. At different angles, each panel was showing a different place, like a sphere made of security cameras. Side by side were views of roads, grassy areas, of buildings and construction sites. I could have watched it all day--I felt like I could see the whole city just by looking up.
So I was thinking...
I was expecting the boring and got the amazing. Isn't that just like God, showing up in the least expected places? I've seen downtown Knoxville too many times to count, but I saw it from a brand new perspective by not focusing on the city itself, but on what was above the city. Sound familiar? Focusing on Jesus brings a new perspective on "things below" (education, career, relationships, finances...), and a reminder that 'you ain't seen nothin' yet!'

Colossians 3:2 "Set your mind on things above,

not on earthly things."

(I have a great picture of the moment on my phone. I have no idea how to get it from the phone to a computer, so on my phone it stays.)

Respect

I'm over whiny adults. When I worked at a school, I ate lunch with a group of teachers who talked a lot about how students don't show any respect for authority. "Because the teacher said so" was no longer a good enough reason to behave, to study, etc. We wondered where this lack of respect for authority all started. And then one day politics became the topic of conversation and I knew exactly where it started. As I sat and listened to a group of grown women call the president of our amazing country school-yard names, I thought "Hello! Where is our respect for authority?"
Here are some things we seem to need reminders of:
1. One man alone is not solely responsible for every situation in a country. It takes advisors, committees and counsel. One administration cannot work independent of the past administration; they build on each other.
2. We are adults. Our speech should reflect that. When you don't agree with your boss at work, do you call him names? Do you start a conversation about him with anyone who will listen so you can have one more chance to make your opinion known? Can we not voice concerns without resorting to the names we called our brothers and sisters in elementary school?
3. We have freedoms. Other countries would not even allow the freedom to be as disrespectful as we are. How lucky we are to even have a president and not a dictator daring us to speak ill of him.
4. There is a bigger picture. Are you paying more for gas and groceries? Me too. Have you been attacked by terrorists in your homeland? Didn't think so.
5. We are the envy of many. We take our citizenship for granted; others would give up everything for an opportunity to call themselves United States citizens. Those on the outside looking in clearly see what we've forgotten--that we are living in a great country!
Everyday I'm more proud of this country and more grateful to be a part of it. If you feel you need to complain about America, just know that you'll find no audience with me.

What'd I just say??

Ever have those moments when you say something totally applicable to the moment, only to later think "did I really just say that?" I had that experience twice tonight while babysitting.
#1. "Boys, I'm just not sure a lasso is an inside toy."
#2. "Why do you have to put them back on?? Because it's just not polite to take your underwear off at the dinner table. That's why."

LIfe-Changing Insight

Tonight was the ever-anticipated messy club at YOKE. Here are some life-changing tidbits I learned while preparing for the balloon-pop relay and 'pie a YokeFolk'.

1. It is nearly impossible to tie a balloon filled with spray cheese.
2. Should you accidentally let go of the balloon before the tie is complete, spray cheese will spew out in no predictable way.
3. While it is possible to add chocolate syrup to a blown-up balloon, it is nearly impossible to do the same with shaving cream.
4. It is nearly impossible to blow up the shaving-cream-filled balloon without ingesting shaving cream.
5. Shaving cream will fizzle and dry out inside a balloon, making the ingestion of the shaving cream nearly pointless. :)
6. There will always be that one student who doesn't know that the best way to pie a YokeFolk is not to put the whipped cream in her hand and smack you in the eye.
7. There is a reason we always pie with shaving cream, not whipped cream. Whipped cream, outside, on your clothes, will sour almost immediately.
8. Once the sour whipped cream travels up your nose, you may never know if you are really clean, because you will always be smelling the sour.

Tonight was great, by the way. Fourteen students who had a blast and hopefully left with more than just messy clothes.

YOKE Camp

So pretty much this weekend was incredible. We had such a great group of students. Nine middle school girls in 3 different grades with such different personalities, and yet no one was excluded. That in itself is an incredible thing. But there was something just incredible about this weekend. We have a girl who came to club for the first time 2 weeks ago and then came again this past week. She seemed interested in camp, but didn't think her mom would let her go since YOKE was still new to them and her mom didn't know us yet. I left her mom some messages, but never heard back. But Friday she was there with her mom ready to get on the bus for camp. Friday night our speaker, Leah, talked about how much God loves us. She did a great job and, though she was talking to the middle schoolers, there were some things I needed to hear too. Saturday was a great day of games and then Saturday night Leah spoke again. First, she explained to the kids what sin is and why it's a problem for us, why it separates us from God. Before she told the kids how Jesus took care of that for us, we took a break and while the kids played four square and jumped rope and all that, the leaders met together to pray for the kids and then broke into teams to pray for our students specifically. It's an incredible time. After Leah told the kids about the free gift Jesus has for us, we had Cabin Time. Cabin Time is what the semester leads up to--a time the students can ask us anything. God was all over our cabin time. No person could have scripted it as perfectly as it happened. The girls asked such honest questions. "If I don't go to church, can I still go to Heaven?" "What exactly do you have to do to go to Heaven?" And they did ask some questions that I had to tell them I really don't know the answer to. Things about the Old Testament ways of sacrifices and such. After the girls asked their questions my college gals shared their testimonies. And, again, it could never have been planned by any person. Such sweet testimonies to tell the girls that you don't have to have a past of drugs or alcohol or abuse to have a "good" testimony. To tell them that God has specific plans for each of them. And then the girls wanted a chance to share with us their stories. One shared how she got saved at camp... 3 times. And so we got to talk about how no one can take your salvation away. What Jesus did for us is forever. Salvation is not something you can lose. The next girl to share was the girl new to YOKE. And she said that her dad had saved her. I asked her if she meant that he prayed with her and she said that wasn't it; he had "put her in the water." So we got to talk about what baptism really is and that it doesn't save you, it's just a symbol of your new life. And, again, we got to talk about the One Way to Heaven and how simple it is, that it's a gift you just have to accept. Normally we end cabin time by telling the girls that they can pull us aside to talk anytime there's something on their mind. But this time we told them that if they felt good about everything they'd heard and had no more questions they could go back to the main room and play some more 4 square. But if they had any more questions they could just stay right where they were. Two girls stayed. One had the kind of question that lets you know she is listening to what you say and really processing it. She said that since we had talked about the only way to Heaven being asking Jesus to forgive you and be your Savior she just wanted to know what happens to babies who die. I told her that those little guys who are too little to even understand what sin is are in Heaven. We talked just a little bit about this thing called "age of accountability" and you could see it click for her. With a look of relief and "yeah, that makes sense" she was off to jump rope. And then there was just me and this special girl. She said she wanted me to "save her." I told her I couldn't, only Jesus can do that. But I told her if she really wanted to I'd pray with her. And she told me she wanted me just to pray it for her. And, again, I told her I couldn't. I wasn't sure she really understood all we had talked about so I started asking her questions about sin and Jesus, and she was getting it. I prayed and let her repeat it, but I was still wondering if she really understood. When we finished praying, I looked up and she was smiling and crying at the same time. And I knew she got it. And I just felt the moment wasn't over. So I just hugged her and held her and prayed some more. And somewhere in that prayer it hit me what had just happened. That I had been there at the very moment her new life began. That God had allowed someone who was just a sinner herself be a part of the moment. And then I thought about Peter. I love to read about the boldness of the early church. And I thought that I was doing something Peter had done: telling about Jesus and then seeing the response. Obviously, this wasn't on the same scale as Peter speaking to hundreds, but it wasn't insignificant. All those thoughts hit me at once, and I started crying. Later, we were walking back to meet up with our group and she looked at me and said "I made you cry, didn't I?" And she was just grinning. It was just an incredible time. I've had the opportunity to pray with students before at things like Hearts on Fire. But there, you know that when students come to you they are coming to make a decision and that they are responding to what the speaker has told them. This was different, because I had been the one to answer the question, not knowing if there would be any response. And when there was it was just incredible. Just such a God-thing. Later that night she thanked me for what I had done and all I could say was "I didn't do this. Jesus did this all." On the bus home she wanted to look at the Bible she had been given and had some questions about it. We talked about her being in church. She said her family has been visiting some places, so I invited her to come to West Lonsdale. She seemed excited about the Wednesday night youth service. I hope so much she is there. I also hope she feels welcomed. This weekend was a time of acceptance and friendship among our girls. I hope that is felt when she comes to church. Honestly, I'm not sure it will happen among the girls her age. That sounds bad, I know. I love my WL girls, but they may see this girl as being different. Not as popular, as well-dressed. Didn't grow up in church, may not know the right terms. I don't know if my WL girls read this or not, but if they do, I challenge them to look for a new face Wednesday. To think about what it might feel like to be the new kid. To think about what an IMPACT a short conversation or invitation to sit with someone might make. To realize they can be a part of a new believer growing in their faith by being an encourager and friend. I know they can do it.

Creepy Old Men

A lot of my friends already know this, but just in case you don't, here's an interesting tidbit about me: I wear an "engagement ring" at work. I was getting some pretty interesting comments from customers as the new girl, so my mom suggested I wear the ring my grandmother gave me which has an interesting story itself. Anyway, the guys who think they are sneaky point to your name plate and ask if it's your married or maiden name. One time I asked a customer if there was anything else I could do for him and he answered with, "well, what time do you get off?" But the oddest was the man who told me that I was very efficient and then asked if my husband appreciated that quality. So I started wearing the ring. I never said anything about it, just started wearing it. And, magically, the comments stopped. But today I had an 87 year old man tell me he left his glasses at home. That's pretty innocent...unless you follow it with "I guess I'll go home and get them and come back so I can get a better look...at you." I, apparently, am hot stuff with the over 60 crowd. Now if I could just get that godly guy my age to be so bold. :) (Rylee is becoming concerned that I won't get married before she's too old to be a flower girl. Sunday she made sure that if she's grown up when I get married that she could still be in my wedding. I love that girl. Oh, the way her mind works!! ")