Stepping Up!

My son, Xavier, and I have been planning for nine months to go on a mission trip to Texas on June 21 for one week to help Hurricane Rita victims rebuild their homes. This trip has been planned, fund-raised, and prayed for for months ever since we returned last summer from our trip to Kentucky. We will be hanging drywall this time (last summer, it was building a large deck and installing windows), and the people going have been very excited about it. This past week, our church's Youth Director was called away on active duty to assist with flood areas in Iowa. Unfortunately, he had been the sole person to make the plans, and because he was given such little time to pack and leave, we didn't have the details of the plans. I felt the calling to step up and volunteer to coordinate the plans for our trip in his absence, and have spent several hours over the last 24 hours doing just that. The assumption is that the youth director will not be returning before our leave time on Saturday, but even if he did, he would risk being redeployed. Luckily, we have had another dad step up to assume the male chaperone role, which is required by the church since we have boys along on this trip.

I am very excited about this mission trip, and about stepping up into this role. And for being a person who doesn't like to go out of the house without makeup, I actually enjoy the low frills (or, more accurately, NO frills) aspect of these mission trips. There are no judgments of individuals--only gratitude for what assistance they can bring. We rough it for a week, living on cots or air mattresses in a church basement with community showers, sack lunches, and little amenities. However, the incredible feeling we get each day for the work we accomplished and the satisfaction of knowing how we are using our abilities to benefit somebody who is desperately in need is beyond words. So, it doesn't matter how you look (or smell on hot days!). We all are in it for the same reason--to make a difference in the lives of others. At the end of each day, we have time for reflective devotion both in small groups and in the large group. We truly end each day being thankful for what we were able to do that day.

I sometimes feel nervous about taking on new responsibilities, but I have no hesitation about this one. The only other people who are left to do it on the church's level are two fresh college graduates who were overwhelmed with the thought of all this huge responsibility, despite their incredible talent. Luckily, I went on a big mission trip last summer, and my day-job requires a lot of large-scale coordination, so I am very comfortable doing this. But aside from my life experiences, this just feel right. The lessons the kids will take away from these experiences will be with them their entire life. That is worth so much, and I am very proud to be part of making those memories!