Serve '07

Ok, so this last week was Serve '07, the Youth work project for the summer. I was blessed to be able to go all 5 days, and through quite a few incidents through out the week, I had a chance to get to know some wonderful people, and I had a few chances for some personal growth too.

I started the week out with some many things wrong in my head and I would like to hope that I finished up with a bit more wisdom to work with. I showed up on Monday morning thinking that I was going to go down to where ever it was and do some work and I was going to get all the work done. Yeah..... Not so much. God got the work done when I let loose and let him lead, when I tried to lead it was a pretty miserable week. At one time the concept of letting God lead was easy to grasp and allowing that to happen on a large scale was easy, allowing God to work in a much more intimate way was, and still is, very uncomfortable. I learned that everything from less than functional drills, to lunch time was all his, and that if I shut up and listened there was something to get from every moment.

Other than those sorts of realizations, I also came to understand that there must be something about allowing God to do the work that makes it easier. I survived the whole week and I was actually trying to wear my self out and did not manage it yet. I was able to be early every day, and to work till i was ready to drop; only to get up the next day and go to it again.

It was amazing to get to work in Houston this week, in the 5th ward no less. I was apprehensive beforehand, I always try to understand any culture I will be encountering, so I can try and remove any offense, presuppositions, assumptions, biases, and to understand the folks i will be working with so that what service is called for can be given, and that the message of God can be communicated in a way that the receiver can see and feel. I really was not able before this week to get a good feel for the urban culture at all, and as this week went on, I started to get a better grip on it. It is all family, not by blood, or even by blocks, but by choice. Near the end of the week I had a 60 year old black woman feeding me like i was her grandson, and it felt like the right thing to do. I was not totally comfortable, but I put all of myself into it, the relationships that were made will be the things I remember the most.

Well I will try and post some more soon, have a great weekend ya'll.