Gypsy Musings

It's been a long time... If you compare youth ministry to retail, which I know all of you do, summertime would be our Christmastime. We all take a deep breath in May and exhale Sept. 1. With so much transition, it was a long spring. Summer came as a welcome diversion, bringing new staff, new life, and new energy. It's all been very full and fulfilling. Summer started with Jr High camp, then I transitioned to Sr. High mission trip to New Orleans, turned 25 two days later, and left for Jr. High mission trip to Brimingham the next weekend-we got home today. Overall, I have loved living like a gypsy for the summer. New Orleans left so many images burnt in my mind...houses still untouched since last August, a city that's still a ghost town with only a quarter of the population living there, and the ninth ward, where the levy broke, almost completely washed away. We worked on 9 houses, demolishing them down to the studs. Getting rid of the mold, the cockroaches and the bad memories started the process of rebuilding and redemption for the precious families we met. If you want to see photos and such of the mission trips go to: www.firsties.com, our youth ministry web site.

With my Senior Girls in New Orleans

Turning 25...a time to plant. I have known for a few months that our Sr. Pastor was wanting an official time commitment for my time at FUMC. As you can tell from my last post, my gypsy soul has been a little restless. I would love to be out in the world, especially China, but I also know now is not the time. There is still so much for me to learn here. After spending the week in New Orleans with some precious freshman girls, I just knew that God is calling me to pour into those girls for four years and see them graduate. It has been confirmed over and over in the past two weeks. Living in Tulsa for the next four years scares me a little, but I know I REALLY need to learn how to put down roots even if after these four years I never live in one place for more than four years at a time.

In two weeks my mom and I are going to jump out of a plane to celebrate her 50th and my 25th, pretty symbolic of the next phase in our lives. There will definitely be photos...more then.