Arise and Build || Texas Mission Trip 2018

Mom and Dad had been planning this mission trip to Texas with some other friends for quite some time. We didn't know exactly how it would all go since it was kind of a new thing for the Bible Class in Fairbury. But here we are... the trip is over and we are home, and I'm not really sure how it could have gone better. God is so good!!

It was fun to have all four of us on the trip together! (Mom, Dad, Marcus and I). A big thanks to everyone who hosted the other kids for the week... they had fun, too! :)

Our theme for the week was 'Arise and Build' as we focused on the verse in Nehemiah 2:20 which says "...the God of heaven, He will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build..." We went to Texas to physically rebuild homes and roofs after hurricane damage. But we also went to build earthly relationships (both with the team and the church down there) and to ultimately build and strengthen each of our individual relationships with Christ. 

To start at the beginning... we left Fairbury early Monday morning and headed for the airport as a group of 30 (plus a few willing van drivers and minus a couple team members who joined us the next day). Thanks to many answered prayers, we arrived safely to the church in Texas in time for lunch!

The rest of Monday afternoon was spent settling into the dorms, receiving orientation for the week, and then supper and games with some kids in a nearby neighborhood!

oh you know, just some quality 'settling in' time :). just for the record though, this was the only time we did this all week...

the dorms were a great place to stay! Dad especially loved having a top bunk for the week! Okay, just kidding about that part, but in all honesty, it was good living conditions for the week. :)

Tuesday was our first work day. We split up between 3 different building sites plus and kitchen crew. Marcus and Dad were both roofing most of the week (completed two different mobile homes), and I was working on interior furnishings at a different house - painting the first two days and doing trim work the second two. Mom spent Tuesday and Wednesday in the kitchen and then enjoyed helping Dad on the roof one day and working on interior painting the last day.

Dad's roofing crew one of the days... they always came back with the funniest stories...

the sack lunches that we packed early in the morning always came in handy later in the day! 

Marcus and Dad were also on a crew that installed a new floor! 

most of our paint crew... we had fun :)

the kitchen crew shipped out piles of delicious food like you wouldn't believe! 

it was a good feeling to walk out the *gray* door with the house looking like this at the end of the day on Friday... 

We filled each of our evenings with a fun mix of activities. Each evening after supper, we enjoyed sharing time where we each talked about what we accomplished that day, any meaningful conversations we had with the homeowners or others, and then usually hysterical retelling of something comical that happened earlier in the day. Those sharing times were good, good, times! 

On Tuesday evening we enjoyed some singing and playing games after supper at the church. Wednesday evening, we all loaded up and went to sing at an assisted living nearby where we met some sweet, spunky souls including but not limited to one that danced for us, one who successfully took 1,000 pictures of our group (or something like that...:)), and one who was from Fairbury and couldn't have been more proud. 

we thoroughly enjoyed the clapping game that the Brummitts taught us one evening! It was super frustrating but kept us all laughing :) and was exciting enough to keep Dad cheerful and lively way past his normal bedtime...

On Thursday evening, our group loaded up in the big vans and took a meal to serve to the homeless downtown. We took around 160 hamburgers plus several other items to make a complete meal. It didn't take long for a long line to form next to our table and before long, the burgers were gone. It was a really eye opening experience for all of us. It makes us each a little more grateful for what we've have been given and challenges us to think about how often we complain in spite of being given so much...

After serving the meal, we enjoyed eating out at a Mexican restaurant before heading back to camp. Oh, and let's not forget the trip to Buc-ee's - the gas station with 92 pumps and anything else you can think of.

Friday was our last work day already and we tried to finish up the work project as best we could! In the evening we enjoyed supper and Good Friday church services with the church down there. After everyone left, we gathered for one last sharing time that no one wanted to see end! We finished up the evening with singing for quite some time... we knew that as soon as we ended the evening and went back to the dorms the trip was over!

We may or may not have sang faster than we could get the words out :). 

Saturday morning dawned bright and a little two early and after one last breakfast together, we were on the road again headed for the Austin airport (thanks again to our drivers!). Again we arrived home safely early that afternoon thanks to answered prayers!

The four of us picked up our little sweetie on our way home and it was so good to reconnect with her again! We spent the evening looking through all the pictures from the trip and just talking about the week - it was so hard to see it end! We were all in mutual agreement that God was so good to us in working everything together for good. We came home from Texas with much closer relationships with everyone on the team, new acquaintances, lots of inside jokes, new carpentry skills, a little bit of sunburn, and so much gratefulness for where we are and what God has given us. Now the question is, how are we using it?

(oh, and if you ever find a way to push the repeat button on a desired week in life... please, let me know :))