Whirlwind of emotions

Oh the last week! It's been a whirlwind of work, excitement, sadness, expectations, surprises and, well, just the ups and downs of life.

If you have been following the Mississippi Team blog, you know that we were able to help get a homeowner out of the trailer he's been living in, into his house. It was great moment to see the truck with furniture pull up and watch beds, a sofa and more head into the house.These pictures came over email and text messages of a party happening in California that I was missing to work in Mississippi (something that I have no regrets about at all) and then came the phone call that had the team in Mississippi hootin' and hollerin' loud enough to be heard in California, I'm sure.That's SuperSarah and R-girl with the local TV anchor...they were kind enough (along with Momma J) to represent me at the Award Ceremony!

This photo came with the caption "The Winner!"

There were a few days when I was SO tired and grumpy and trying really hard to be positive but failed miserably. Sigh. Dumb posts...
The hard part about serving in the mission field is that in one way or another a part of you is left behind. Before we left, I spoke to a group of youth and adults at another church about serving in Mississippi and told them that every single trip, no matter what, our hearts are broken over and over and over again. I wasn't making it up.

As much as we expect it, it still takes me by surprise. That feeling of utter helplessness, knowing that you can't fix what is really hurting on the inside of the people we meet. That no matter how hard we work all week, we won't get everything done. We rely on God to meet the needs of the people we meet, we share the love, hope and joy that we find in Jesus, we speak with love, hope and joy and we give a part of ourselves away each and every time.

And coming on the heels of that realization was also the realization that this really could be the end of this journey. The work has slowed way down, though there are still things to do. The future of taking teams to Mississippi is very much up in the air and that reality was intruding all week long. I feel like I'm beginning a grieving process.

Which is why Lil Bro got a text saying "send pics please!" He obliged and Little Miss Payten appeared on my phone throughout the week. Thanks Lil Bro! (If you can't read it on the pic Little Miss P is wearing her "First New Orleans T-shirt"...hee-hee!)

This yo-yo kind of weekwas capped off by a surprise this morning waiting for me in my office...there was a break in!