Travel Day 2: Cast into a hot place

Day 2:
6:30am…Continental Breakfast (Very satisfying)
7:15am…Leave Hotel (Austin still a master trailer-er.)
8:30am…Gas (BF takes the helm)
10:00am…Worship (Starfield leads praise & Chandler preaches)
12:30pm…Lunch with Wattersons (Smoked chicken and NASCAR)
3:30pm…N.O. International Airport for Becky, Tyler, Lauren, Erica, & Nicole (…so we left)
4:00pm…French Quarter (Doc Lewis reunion!)
6:45pm…Orientation (Starting to feel like a mission trip)
9:00pm…Papa Johns (College style)

Fun Fact:
The causeway is a 24.8 mile bridge that connects New Orleans to the north shore of Lake Pontchatrain. The ride is less bumpy with more people.

The sheer amount of time spent together is binding us together. Bill Hybels calls it the “be with” factor. If significant Christ-commending impact is desired, significant “be with” time is required. We are all getting to “be with” each other a lot!

It’s not often adults have sleepovers; at least not without getting strange looks. People don’t typically lay in beds and talk to casual friends into the night. A trip like this affords acquaintances the opportunity to break through the shallowness of the mundane and engage real issues.

At work it’s easy to stay on the surface about the details of your life during the 5 minute coffee break. People can even fill the daily half hour lunch break without divulging anything of any substance. Eighteen hour road trips, 15-passenger vans, and nightly sleepovers bring depth within the conversation. I praise God, I’m getting to know our team deeper this week.

We’re asking questions that make us think. We’re revealing parts of ourselves which remain hidden at the water cooler at work. We’re being vulnerable by exposing who we are and finding a tighter embrace as the response.

We’re laying good foundation for conversations later in the week. I’m looking forward to many encounters from God, but I’m looking even more forward to dialoguing about those encounters. It’s easy to observe and feel what’s going on. I think it’s hard to process what things actually mean.

What would it mean to love my neighbor in NOLA? What would justice look like down here? Why did God send me and not someone from NOLA? Is my involvement really making a difference?

Pray that we would think about what we see, not simply to retell when we return, but so that we would be changed by it.

Tomorrow is our first work day. The day all about hurrying up and waiting. It can be frustrating for those who just want to get to work. The coordination of worksites and unskilled laborers eats away time.

Pray for patience as we learn that this trip is more about loving others than building structures.