Gotta have a theme song...

We left Indianapolis at 4pm last Wednesday in three huge passenger vans packed with people, duffel and sleeping bags, tools and supplies and love. Love was especially prominent in our van as our mission trip organizer, Jonathan, and his wife, Christine, were all-newlywed-snugglebunny-cutesty. I'm always a little bit jealous of PDA couples, but I digress. We had a long journey ahead of us - an estimated 15 hour ride through the night into who knows what kind of morning.

The ride was rather uneventful. God saw to it that we didn't get separated or got into an accident. I drove from around our 10pm stop outside of Nashville until we arrived in Gulfport at 7am. We made very good time. Too good as a matter of fact since we had to stop about 60 miles north of Gulfport for almost two hours. There's a curfew in Gulfport and we could have been arrested if we drove in before the sun came up.

As I drove our van, everyone else slept. I was able to put on some music to keep me company. Journey's Greatest Hits is great for the road. Liz Phair's latest kept me cozy and warm. But, it was the Godspell soundtrack that kept me alive. I didn't realize I took it with me, but it was in a zippered compartment from another trip my bag had made. Track 14, "Beautiful City," would become my theme song for the week.

Out of the ruins and rubble.
Out of the smoke.
Out of our night of struggle
Can we see a ray of hope?
One pale, thin ray reaching for the day.

We can build a beautiful city.
Yes, we can. Yes, we can.
We can build a beautiful city.
Not a city of angels, but we can build a city of man.

We may not reach the ending
But we can start.
Slowly but truly mending
Brick by brick and heart by heart
Now, maybe now, we start learning how

We can build a beautiful city.
Yes, we can. Yes, we can.
We can build a beautiful city.
Not a city of angels, but we can build a city of man.

When your trust is all but shattered,
When your faith is all but killed,
You can give up bitter and battered
Or you can slowly start to build...

A Beautiful city.
Yes, we can. Yes, we can.
We can build a beautiful city.
Not a city of angels, but we can build a city of man.

That's exactly what God had sent us to do. To offer a ray of hope to the few people and families we could in the time we had. It says in Romans 5:3-5 that "we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

I, personally, only was able to help eight families in three days. That's how much work they needed us to do. That's how much God needed us to do. Enough to lay a few bricks down so a few families would be filled with the hope of the Lord. One small ray of hope that will shine ever so brightly thanks to God so the whole world can be inspired by the faith and strength the people of Gulfport have.