{week}end update

well, ladies & gentlemen, here is the long awaited update from my week in Memphis with these crazies. warning: longest post ever, but way worth the read. the above picture is obviously day one **you'll see why so obvious in later pictures** disclaimer: although it may look like I am taking this picture while driving, I am not. my co-pilot, co-leader, & great friend, Haley, is the photog & counted down to tell me when I should look. she timed this perfectly & we got a great pic to document the first 45 minutes on the road, right before I received the first "how much longer till we get there" question.

I am always so amazed by our junior high students this week. they surprise me each year how much they learn, serve, grow, and love others. this year was no exception. the girls in this picture were challenged to lead small groups, love on kids they've never met, pray with random people on the streets of downtown Memphis, clean up & restore dignity to an old cemetery, and countless other things. they stepped up big time! I am so proud of the way they showed Christ's love to others & had the maturity to realize that they were changed even more than the people they interacted with the whole week.

this is some of the cemetery work crew from this past week. behind them is now a beautiful landmark with amazing history. they were able to dig up gravestones & clean out areas bringing dignity back to people who had lived through the civil war, titanic, & world war 1. it was amazing to see these kids work hard & even more amazing to see the beauty & imagine what it was like to live when these people did.

 

 

each afternoon our students were divided into gyms. we partnered with Memphis Athletic Ministries who have gone into shut-down community centers and started amazing after-school programs in those gyms. the one I spent my week in is Magnolia. it was simply amazing to watch 8th and 9th graders walk into this gym & love people that they didn't know and that are different than them. one of my favorite stories is when one of our 9th grade girls shared the story of how Christ changed her life with high school kids for the very first time. she was beyond nervous when I asked her to share, but she took a leap out of her comfort zone to share her story that she had never shared before with people she had never known before. what inspiring courage from the life of a 14 year old!

and then we went bowling. right before this picture was taken is a funny story. on our way from Central BBQ to the bowling alley, I was pulled over. out of the huge caravan of white 15-passenger vans that were speeding past me, the policeman decided to pull over the black burb, affectionately known as dirty barb. why did I get pulled over? you might assume I had been speeding, but I wasn't. I actually was nowhere near speeding. it was all because one of dirty barb's headlights was out. worst. but the policeman was super understanding & great about it, especially after I explained how I told my "boss" about it earlier that week. **side note: Garland, sorry for blaming that on you** definitely one for the books.

this is downtown prayer day. maybe my coffee addiction is rubbing off on them... #discipleship ;) also, Haley is the best. 

and this is where it should be completely obvious what is the day one selfie & what was day seven selfie. this is on our way home. in Conway, AR. in Baskin Robbins. we look tired & a little crazy because we are. activities on our way home in dirty barb include: making up our own lyrics to Beyoncé songs, dancing like no one is watching, & belting out the same 5 songs for 5.5 hours. **we be up all night, dirty baaaarb. drivin on that road, drivin' drivin' on that road** goodness. these are my crazies & I wouldn't trade them for the world. love y'all mean it!