Hear the Peepers

You know the weather is getting warmer when you can hear the peepers. Their loud racket signifies the freedom of summer air and that steady nighttime breeze. When you hear them, you feel calm because you know that beautiful days are ahead and soon the cool New England weather will let up and let us celebrate.

One of my favorite parts of summer is being barefoot in the grass. It feels free and invigorating. My toes intertwined with my yard is tempting and I cannot wait to have my bare feet allowed to be wherever they please. The thought is wonderful, and soon this rainy and dreary weather will pass.

Until then I will listen to the peepers and dream of sunny days and lazy nights. I wish I could be outside now next to a fire with people I love roasting a marshmallow and smiling. Summer is not far off and it will be worth the wait.

Thinking of Mississippi

Hope needs to be restored. People need to see that God is working in Mississippi and He is changing it. Faith needs to be restored because there will be a day when the state will be a place that people admire. Mississippi will rise to it's potential and it will flourish.

Blessed

God has truly blessed me in the past few days. I have been taken by surprise and I am so thankful for that. My life has been changed in an instant and I cannot stop smiling about it. Whenever I think about it, my heart starts to flutter and my fingers get tingly. My face can't help but break out into a huge smile and all I want to do is spin around and dance. I am full of joy because God has blessed me with and how amazing He is. I cannot being to explain how lucky and blessed I am. These events are truly works of His and I cannot get over how crazy this is. But I am so happy and I cannot wait to see where this goes. God really is good and He has perfect timing and I love Him so very much and He loves me so very much. Life is good :]

Mississippi Journal (3.23.2011)

It's only been a couple days, but I already miss Mississippi like crazy. I miss In His Steps, the town, the kids, the people. Everything. Since being back, I find it strange that there is hardly any diversity here. Mostly, Gordon and the surrounding community is white. I almost miss being gawked at because of my skin color. Ever since leaving, I have felt God calling me back to In His Steps and Canton, and I know that when the time is just right, I will be back there. And until then, I will just have to wait.

But waiting is still really hard. I feel drawn back for the people and the community. When I am at Gordon I serve people who are just like me. In Mississippi, I serve all kinds of people. There are so many ages, backgrounds, and stories. I want to go back and just listen to all that surrounds me. Being down there is not just abut doing service projects and talking to people. They want someone to sit down and LISTEN. No one does that. No one cares enough to go serve in Mississippi and listen to what people have to say. These people are written off and not even given a chance. And what do we have to offer that they don't? They are just as important and should be heard, because their stories are worth an ear. Carolyn and Jasper certainly have ears to hear and they listen. They know the community so well that I admire just how much they have invested in Canton. I can see that they see the potential in the people and they can see a future. Canton is a place so treasured by God because He is working through so many people to break racism and create equality. He works through marvelous people, like the Bacon's, to change a thought-to-be hopeless town into someplace beautiful.

:{In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: "It is more blessed to give than to receive."}: ~ Acts 20:35