Day 3+4

Hello again,

I'm quite tired, so God willing, I will type a sufficient amount of text to satifsy your reading needs.

The last couple days have included planning some events to try and engage the community. So far this has been a success, and as Josh D. put it (the youth pastor here), a breakthrough. No offense to the people of Gonzales (since I am only stating what I've been told by your own residents), but there isn't much to do here, especially when everyone is out of town for the break. To remedy this boredom, we made a movie night.

Getting the site, the equipment, the manpower, and the exposure we had was nothing short of a blessing, and something of a miracle. In only about 6ish hours, we managed to get an AMAZING place to play the movie, advertise the movie to all the hot spots in town, set up a reputable sound system, and manage about 50+ people during the event--popcorn and drinks included :)

As you can tell, I was pretty pumped after that, as everyone else was. We all set our minds on the here and now that God placed before us, and now we helped out in a way that people seem appreciative of. I don't want to make this about our team getting any sort of glory in this, but dude, this is freakin' sweet. I haven't felt a joy like this in a while.

Also got to connect with people at the event. Since we're some of the few 18-25 year old people who come into town, some of us have been overwhelmed with people who really just want to talk to someone who is older-- and who is not Mom or Dad. I managed to grow up with some pretty good mentors, but for some of these youngin's Josh has been their first mentor. And what they say can break a man's heart--my heart is no exception. I'm not sure what I can do aside from listen, pray and encourage... but after years of worrying and trying to fix other people's problems, I'm learning how to believe that these three things are good enough, with all other actions coming secondarily. I'm not God, so why do I try to solve problems like Him? That's a lovely pride-pill to swallow.

If I don't get to type anything tomorrow, here is the game plan:

dance, dance, DANCE!

Yes, a dance party we will throw is true, yes. Trying to pick out the music that is
1)appropriate,
2)fun to dance to,
3)dominantly country.


I don't know a lick about country music aside from what a few close friends tell me, and I'm not sure if they're the most wholesome songs in the world... then again, I'm not sure if there are too many that abide within the dance genre of music.

Anyways, we have about 1 hr worth of music. 4 more and it will be ready to go. Pray the weather does well (as this event is outside), and pray that we get more opportunities to connect with some of these kids. We want to get to know them. We really do. Not so we can mark them off our "karma list," but because Christ has found it necessary to give us a spirit of love for this town. This was the original capital of Texas. The heart of the Texas Revolution. As corny as this may sound, but another revolution is on the edge of becoming a pandemic. Not of war or violence or independence or whatever ideas the word "revolution" cultivates in your mind. This is a revolution of unity, of growth, of peace and of love. Cuz as Heather says (not sure where she got this quote)--

"If we ever leave a legacy, its that we love eachother well..."

And a chapter in the bible

Hebrews 11

Talks about faith. It hit me real hard this morning. Go ahead. Read it. Read how the author summarizes in succesesion people of faith throughout history. How, because of this faith, they received blessings running over the edges of their lifetime. How, through affliction, God always has greater prosperity to follow. How, in the face of absolute hopelessness and aggrevation, God turned their weeping into praise, rewarding them for standing for a cause they themselves could not defend by bodily means.

I don't think its THAT extreme here in Gonzales, but in a small town where things that pretty much always been like this (ALWAYS), people working for change can be seen as people with faith.

In closing, I leave you with Proverbs 3:5-6. Its nothing new, but its the little things :)


5Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding,
6in all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will make your ways straight.




Bedtime,
Dani


P.S. I've become the ninja master.