"how was your trip?!!"

Wonderful. And awful.
Exciting. And exhausting.
Inspiring. And frustrating.
Glad to be home. But I wish I was doing more.

"Welcome home! How was your trip?" Such a simple question to answer when you've been on vacation ... I read three books, we snorkeled, went shopping, I tried (insert exotic dish here) ...

But when you've been on a mission trip, invited into people's lives in their very most vulnerable moments? To say "It was great!" just sounds wrong. But to say "It was awful." isn't right, either.

In this blog -- a term I use loosely! it's more like excessively stream-of-consciousness ramblings on the day's work and thoughts -- I've tried to hit the highlights. I knew many of you would want to know what was going on in Tyler (and in me) on a regular basis; and I knew that the rest of you would read it (or at least skim it!) simply out of loyalty to me and interest in the mission. And y'know, ministers learn to take whatever audience we can get! :-)

Now that I've had two days on 'this side' of the mission, I'll try to put a few 'reflections' in some order for you -- and for me, too!


We are more alike than we are unalike. - - Maya Angelou, author and speaker - -
When people are hurting, they're hurting. Where you came from, what you had, what you lost, what you managed to carry with you ... it doesn't matter. Fear and anger, pain and uncertainty are oblivious to distinctions of class and race and education. Fortunately, most of the time, when offered genuinely and effectively, hope and help and compassion are oblivious to those distinctions, too.


Sometimes you worship the God you have, not the God you want. - - Stephen Colbert, comedian and writer - -
He said it on The Daily Show, sarcastically answering the 'where is God in all this?' question (and mocking D. Rumsfeld's 'you go to war with the army you have...'), but it's stuck with me for the last couple of days. Sometimes we WANT a God who will make things happen, and yet keep other things from happening, all in line with our own personal preferences and schedules, of course. But we HAVE a God who creates us and loves us and wants to be in relationship with us ... and who sets us in the world, freeing us to be in relationship with each other. I think I'm okay worshipping a God like that.


The place where optimism most flourishes is the lunatic asylum. - - Havelock Ellis, 19th c. British psychologist - -
Every day I'd walk in the door and there would be a half-dozen messages, questions, and minor crises flying my way. And a few hours later, those would be solved and there would be a half-dozen more. And yet every day I'd walk in the door and there'd be news of someone else finding a place to live, or a job, or a relative. Dr. Ellis may have been an ocean away, and a century and a half early ... but he did pretty well capturing the reality of relief work in the southern states.


Would you trade it for anything? -- Mark Briley, GCC colleague and friend --
No. Not a thing. Every awful story made every wonderful story more so. The exhaustion each evening came from the excitement of each day. Any frustration with 'the system' made it that much more inspiring when compassion found its way into, through, and frankly sometimes around ' the system'. And yes, my heart is telling me to find what's next in this far-reaching, long-lasting saga, and get moving on it ... but the best place to DO that is back in the arms of the ones who sent me to serve in the first place.


In a letter to the early church in Corinth, Paul tries to help them understand who they are, what they're about, and what their faith -- and their world -- demands of them ... and what that faith not only requires, but empowers, them to do and be:

The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. As it is written, "He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God. (2Corinthians 9:6-12 )

With many thanksgivings to God, for each of you, for our ministry together, and for the hope and promise of what is to come ...