saying goodbye :(

today, the two teams worked offsite. half of the georgia team went to build a house with habitat for humanity (the youth who were 15 or older), while the rest of their team, along with the alabama team, scattered throughout the community to hand out VBS flyers. the alabama team was very enthused about this because they did some evangelist work last year when they came and the kids loved it. last year, they had gone door-to-door giving out bibles and sharing the word of christ. this year, they would be going door-to-door encouraging families to bring their children to vacation bible school in mid-july, as well as, sharing christ with them.

when the alabama group came back this afternoon, they were so excited about what they had done today and the people they had met. the youth minister came and told jamie and i about one house they went to. the team felt called to help this woman and her family out. i dont remember all the details, but the woman is elderly and several of her grandchildren live with her. one of her sons had died, another had been charged with assault, and the last was living with her, but was abusive towards the kids. the mother of the children wanted nothing to do with them. the story was a sad one and the living conditions were not pleasant. the team wanted to help this lady out as much as they could. they needed food and some things done around the house. the team gave her some food and they did some things around the property for her. they also prayed over her and her family and talked to her about the lord. they are hoping to have made a great impact on the lives of the people living in this home. the youth minister even spoke with the man who verbally/physically abused the children. the youth minister was very passionate about the evangelism work they had done and they had really made strong connections with everyone they met today. the Lord did work through them today. i was very moved by what they had accomplished :)

this morning, i was asked if i could make a walmart run for some goods to restock the mercy house with...i happily agreed. the distribution center was running low on food items to give out to people because of the large amount of people coming in and needing food. i was given a list and instructions on quantities and prices of items. my list included: 25 boxes of rice-a-roni, 25 boxes of hamburger helper, 25 cans of tomato sauce, 25 cans of diced tomatoes and 50 bags of dried beans. all of these items needed to cost less than one dollar each. so i was on a mission. i wandered up and down the aisles of walmart finding the cheapest food items and loading up my buggy. it was an interesting experience. i felt like i was on the show, extreme couponing, minus the coupons. lol. i mean, i had large quantities of random food in my buggy. people were staring at me and asking me who i was cooking all this food for. it was funny! it took a while to check out, load up my car, and then unload back at the food center. i was very proud of myself though because i had found everything cheaper than it was expected to be. and i did it all by myself! haha. it was a good time :)

this afternoon, jamie and i helped do a little bit of clean up on pastor don's house. it's coming along great! it will be done before we know it! :)

today was wednesday so we had church service tonight, which was awesome as usual. pastor don spoke on john 6, which tells the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. he dissected the story and helped us realize that sometimes we follow God (or the church) for the wrong reasons...just like the 5,000 people followed Jesus just so they could be fed again. even though we may have bad motives, Jesus loves us anyway (Jesus fed the people anyway!). God knows our hearts and what lies within them...he knows when we have ulterior motives. we cant hide anything from him.

i just love hearing pastor don speak. he says the funniest things! he had the whole church cracking up tonight :) i will definitely miss him and his loving heart and willingness to serve. he is such a genuinely happy person...he brushes off the bad stuff like it's nothing. he is always looking at the positive side of things and laughing when something goes wrong. i look up to him for that.

daniela had invited pastor don, jamie, and myself over for dinner at her and her husband's (greg) apartment. she wanted to cook dinner for us. it was very generous and the food was delicious :)

i havent mentioned it yet, but today was my last day at lakeshore baptist. i have grown so attached to this place and i will miss it dearly. it has been one of my best summer experiences and i will never forget the people i have met, the things i have done, and the memories i have made. it really hasnt hit me yet that i will leaving bright and early in the morning. tonight was a great end to a wonderful couple weeks here. it had already begun to feel like home to me.

i have just said all of my goodbyes because i will be gone before anyone wakes up in the morning. my last goodbye was to jamie whom i have spent the most time with while i have been here. we have become quite close and i will miss her very much. she is such a loving and beautiful person. i wish her all the best as she continues to live and serve here. she deserves nothing but the best and whatever God has planned for her future will be amazing. i know he will continue to bless her.

i am planning to come back here before the summer is over...hopefully more than just once. i can come for a week or just for a couple days. after all, it's only a plane ride away :) plus, ive already promised everyone i would. and i know God has more planned for me here. my time here is not finished yet. this place has my heart :)