I forgot again...

This morning I was listening to NPR and they interviewed a doorman to a popular new york hotel. This was his first job and he has had the same job for decades. His job is to greet people who walk in front of the hotel and enter the hotel and to treat everyone like "a VIP". He told a story of how he helped a man who had a big meeting shine his shoes even when the barber shops were closed. So this doorman ran to his own locker, got his own shoe polish and rag and shined the man's shoes for him! The door man said his father always told him...Be the type of person and live the kind of life, that if everyone were to be like you...this world would be God's paradise. I was so thankful for those words because again, forgetful me... I had forgotten. I had the chance a few days ago to do a nice thing but stress from work and incovenience got in the way. I did help little, but my attitude was not altogether the right one and it was clear to see that. But this morning I was reminded...of what the doorman's father said and how I want to live by it. As a christian my goal is to live a godly life, share that life with others so they can live a godly life, and in following God and living a Godly life all of us can have the most fulfilling life possible, in this world and the next. So I continue to strive for what the doorman's father said to be more than just a saying to me. And I pray for the day when the doorman's saying can become a reality for more and more people.

Have you ever looked back...

Have you ever by chance come upon some writings or journal entries or poems that you wrote a long, long, time ago? Well I did that recently, and it was amazing to read those words and re-experience whatever I was going through and to get a perspective of the person I was, the way I thought and the person I have become and the way I now think. I have to smile as I think of what I used to worry about! I'm going to put myself out there a little and post some of my old poetry. Then you (whoever you are) can also catch a glimpse of the person I was and the person I have now become.

Memoirs of a Mission Trip IV

Finally! We arrived in Dominca. As we stepped out of the plane I was very excited to meet the members of the church there and to see the areas where we would be working to set up bible studies. But, as we waited... and waited... we realized that our luggage was not coming to meet us! So we piled into the vans and headed to Grand Bay, the town where we would be working. The vans we rode in were amazing! They were smaller than a normal SUV but each one was somehow able to hold 10 to 12 people! The road to Grand bay was very long and very hilly! I had heard those who had gone before talk about how the van ride there could make people sick, but I wasn't worried. After riding in the van and going back and forth and up and down for almost two hours, I was starting to wonder if I was going to make it! It was really late when we finally pulled up to the missionary's house. I was very happy and very thankfull we finally made it! Now it was time to get down to the business of teaching God's word! We waited to the morning of course! As I slept that night I wondered what amazing things God had planned for us. I would just have to wait and find out!

Finally! We arrived in Dominca. As we stepped out of the plane I was very excited to meet the members of the church there and to see the areas where we would be working to set up bible studies. But, as we waited... and waited... we realized that our luggage was not coming to meet us! So we piled into the vans and headed to Grand Bay, the town where we would be working. The vans we rode in were amazing! They were smaller than a normal SUV but each one was somehow able to hold 10 to 12 people! The road to Grand bay was very long and very hilly! I had heard those who had gone before talk about how the van ride there could make people sick, but I wasn't worried. After riding in the van and going back and forth and up and down for almost two hours, I was starting to wonder if I was going to make it! It was really late when we finally pulled up to the missionary's house. I was very happy and very thankfull we finally made it! Now it was time to get down to the business of teaching God's word! We waited to the morning of course! As I slept that night I wondered what amazing things God had planned for us. I would just have to wait and find out!

Memoirs of a Mission Trip III

When we landed in Antigua it turned out we had a little more layover time than we originally thought, so several of us went up the escalator and back down the concourse to buy something to eat. Eventually it started getting fairly close to time everyone should be boarding the plane, but there were 2 teenagers of our group missing! So I said they were probably still waiting in line at one of the restaraunts in the concourse and I would find them. I ran up the escalator and ran up and down the concourse shouting their names and looking in every souvenier store, magazine mart, and fast food place on the enitre concourse. I couldn't find them anywhere! I eventually came to the customs gate and turned around becaues I just knew they wouldn't have done something like go back outside the customs gate! No one would do that! So when I returned to the gate out plane were leaving from the flight assistant was insisting that we start boarding the plane. Our minister said that we should go on and that he would stay back, which made me a little nervous. Okay it made me very nervous. We boarded the 20 passenger twin-propeller airplane, the pilot started teh engines, and just as I was starting to complain in my mind about how this was not the best way to start a mission trip and wondering how long it would take them to meet up with us in Dominca, I saw our minister and the two missing of our group come towards our plane. I thought Praise God! I also thought I was really going to have to watch this complaining of mine. Because as we landed in Dominica what was there but, yep, you guessed it! Another opportunity to complain!

Forgetful Me!

Why is it so easy for us sometimes to forget? There are so many things that happen to us that make us think about ourselves in ways that help us grow. And then not a month later we are going on as if nothing ever happened! The book of James in the bible relates it to looking at yourself in the mirror and then turning away and forgetting what you saw.

I have already had the chance to tell the story of my car woes! For almost a month I was without a car and catching rides from friends and church family. It was very inconvenient and frustrating, and I had to relearn the value of the blessing of transportation. Not too long ago (about 6 months later) I was cruising around in my 'new to me' car when all of a sudden the engine stopped! I barely had a chance to coast into a gas station. At that moment images flashed in my mind of me without a car bumming rides, trying to raise money to pay for another car, and I moaned.
After sheepishly glancing at the gas gauge, remembering that I was riding past 'E', I I realized that I had simply run out of gas! I also realized that I could be more thankful for a car that had been working well for me, and had carried me for some time now without any needed repairs. I also remembered the importance of reminders. At that moment when I was at the gas station I was reminded of the blessing of personal transportation.

Reminders don't just have to be about the blessing of personal transportation. They can be about the blessing of people who love us. They can even be about the blessing of a God who loves us. Hopefully as I grow in life I can live remembering to be thankful, and to take advantage of those times when I am reminded to be thankful!

Memoirs of a mission trip II

So after rushing around the Miami airport we caught our flight to San Juan Peurto Rico! Here finding the right gate and flight was a little more challenging than at Miami because we didn't speak spanish! Also it looked like we would have to squeeze to the make the next flight because even though we had a substantial layover there were several steps we had to take before getting on the next flight. We needed to go through customs, pick up our luggage, find where our next flight was leaving from, carry our luggage to the liat airline (leeward island air transport) recheck our bags, go back through customs and then get to the gate where our next flight was leaving. I tried to remind myself not to complain. To think about Phil 2:14 where the bible tells us to do all things without complaining and disputing, but it was very very hard! And I found myself muttering complaints under my breath almost unconsciously. But after reminding myself of the reason I was on this trip I was better able to focus on the blessings. Like how we had made it safely and all together thus far. Though, I did have to redouble my efforts after we landed in Antigua...