Sunday, October 23, 2005

Lay Your Hands On Me: Not Just a Bon Jovi Song

It occurred to me today that this mission trip will not be the first time I've been to Gulfport/Biloxi, MS with a religious group. When I was younger, probably 12 or 13, the church CYO set up an overnight trip to the Gulf Beaches there. We camped on the beach. I don't remember learning any "Jesus-stuff," and I got a majorly painful heat rash where by thighs chaffed together. It was hard to walk. I think I more or less waddled my way around. Bit of advice, don't go out into to Gulf of Mexico with a heat rash. Just trust me on that one. Hopefully, different lessons will be learned this time around.

It also occurred to me that I have possibly set myself up here to fail. You see, while it's very cool to possess the technology to blog about this mission trip, including pictures and audio if necessary, using my cell phone, that doesn't mean my cell phone will work properly while we're there. The cell lines are likely still down. So, while I'm prepared to go forward, blogging this trip could be the biggest flop I've ever attempted here. If that's the case, I'm sorry. But, I'll be keeping a written journal and, at the very least, post those here after the trip.

Today at worship, one of the coolest things I have ever experienced since coming to Christ happened. The Crux is sending three people to be apart of this mission trip. We're partnering with our mother church for a total of 26 people. Well, towards the end of our worship, we three were called forward. Denny and I were representing, but Jane wasn't there. Then, Pastor Brad called people forward who were in our D-teams or who just liked us (his words, if I recall). we got on our knees and everyone assembled at the front of the theatre laid hands on us while Pastor Daron led a prayer for us. And, I have to tell you, that was just an amazing experience. I don't exactly know who all was participating, and it doesn't matter. It was just touching (quite literally) that people would do that and pray for us. Stuff like that freaks me out in a good way everyday and reminds me that God is working in my life.

So, we were supposed to ask five people to pray for us while we're on the trip - prayer partners to, well, pray for us and the success of the mission. I think I overachieved. I've got at least seven and I want to thank them. One of them is in charge of a prayer group and has said all 30+ of them will pray for us. Numerous people have told me the same. I don't know if I can put into words the hope and faith this is giving me. To say, "that's freaking sweet" is such the understatement and honestly, isn't worthy of describing these acts.

And now for the random tangent. I was watching Superman: The Movie on DVD yesterday. Well, trying to watch as the dang library disk was all scratched up and kept stopping. But, I got to notice this little gem of comedy that Hollywood would not be able to get away with today I don't think. In the scene, Superman (*sniff* Christopher Reeve*) has just rescued a little girl's cat from a tree. As he flies off, the girl ran into the house and told her mommy a flying man just plucked the kitty from the tree. You only hear this from outside the house; you don't see what's going on in the house. Here's the completely un-P. C. a reply from the mother: "Little girl, I've told you about making up stories." And then you hear a very audible *slap* just before the scene cuts away. No doubt a character flaw of mine, but I giggled a little. Not because a little girl got slapped by her mother necessarily, but that Richard Donner got away with putting that in.

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