:: greatness is a life well-lived ::

Mississippi Girl

Hey Y'all! I'm back from the South. Pulled in to GR yesterday evening. Dragged today at work, trying to focus on job stuff, but mentally trying to transition and process the past week of my life. I may have to do the summary in segments, when I have some time to process more. Here are a few highlights/lowlights:

Highlight #1: "I'm David Stoner" ~ Jeff
Highlight #2: feeling alive and real, in my "sweet spot"
Highlight #3: "Sweet sassy mollassy" ~ Tyler
Highlight #4: Traveling through 10 states, 5 of them new ones for me!
Highlight #5: hearing people's hearts and stories
Highlight #6: knowing that God was using my small efforts

Lowlight #1: forgetting my bag of clothes and stuff back in Michigan (but it turned out alright, and brought a lesson in dependence, control and what is important)
Lowlight #2: feeling helpless and overwhelmed
Lowlight #3: the trees and terrain - stripped, violated, laid waste
Lowlight #4: slabs of cement where houses once stood
Lowlight #5: leaving


And here are some thoughts I've been able to record about my time in Hancock County, Mississippi.

21 December 2005

Somewhere in the middle of last night, my subconsciousness and consciousness mingled and I wrote these thoughts. I was dreaming about Mississippi, trying to process and make sense of the few days I had spent there. I discovered in the morning that what I wrote actually made sense and wasn't just the gibberish of a dreamlike stupor. So I want to pass it along, for encouragement and/or challenge.

"She was telling me about her house, now just a slab of cement behind her. It was too much to handle, and so she turned and walked away, the destruction overwhelming however you looked at it. Struck with understanding and care, I knew it was far from over, and to pull out now would be utterly wrong and senseless, would be abandonment and hopelessness. It was when I moved to chase the woman that I woke up and realized it was just a dream, and I was now awake.

And yet, the dream is not just a dream; it is far from over. To many people, this nightmare began one day in late August and has been their reality since that time. Unlike my dream that was merely processing what I saw over four days and faded into reality when I awoke, what has happened in Mississippi and across the Gulf Coast has not and will not disappear into reality of wakefulness. For this devastation IS their reality, their waking nightmare. And the involvement and love of individuals from Mars Hill is a glimmer of hope amidst the chaos, peace amidst the nightmare, God's love shown through His people being the Body of Christ."

And this is a journal entry while I was at MH South:

17 December 2005

"Crawling into my sleeping bag, I feel tired. But more than that, I feel content, satisfied, alive. Today we helped clean someone's (Don and Cherri) yard of debris and I talked with them a lot, listened to their stories, both on and off camera. And I recognized that my "work" was insignificant in that I didn't fix anything or do anything amazing. But at the same time it was significant because I listened, encouraged, helped them along on their journey, this step of today, even though they have many more days to come.

And I thrived in talking to people, serving others, caring and being aware of others' needs. Kristin said in summary when I told her how I felt: "So you found your sweet spot?" Yeah, I did. It is in hands-on service where I am much more aware of others' real needs than my own petty problems. Where I get lost in serving others and I forget myself. I absolutely love it, for then I live from my heart and my natural response. I don't care so much about my own needs or worries or appearance or impressions, but simply live real and sincerely.

Jesus, I thank You. Thank You for reminding me who I am, for allowing me to be here and do what I'm doing. May I somehow live like this always."

posted by FaithChristine @ 16:26