Friday, July 07, 2006

On the road again

Yes, I'm about to leave on another trip. This time, I'll be traveling to The Duvall Home in Glenwood, FL for the Harpeth Presbyterian Church Sr. High mission trip. This will be the first time I take this group on a long trip. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit nervous. My first trip with a new group always makes me nervous. So many what ifs run through my brain:What if I forget something really important? What if I ignore a sacred ritual? What if its the worst trip ever and nobody ever comes back to youth group? What if someone gets injured? What if? What if? What if? It's times like these that I have to take a deep breath and do my best to let it go and trust that God is in control. It really has nothing to do with me, after all. But still....I worry. :)

This evening, after we load up our vans and uhaul trailer, I'm going to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie with some of the youth. Here's a picture from a year ago when I was at Montreat.

I wore that pirate hat around for an entire day, and talked like a pirate a lot, too. As you can see, I was pretty menacing with my hook. I think I forced some people to walk the plank, too. My good friend Ashley Lamar got a big kick out of looking over and seeing me work with that hat on. Ah, Ashley...what a good guy. I miss him. Anybody who's close enough to give him a hug, please give him a big one for me.

3 comments:

Andy said...

I just had my first mission trip experience a 2 weeks ago with youth at Colesville. I made some mistakes but did some things right too. I felt like the trip was really good and that I had a great time and got a chance to bond with the group. The best part was several wrote cards at the end of the trip or thank you notes saying they had a great time and were thankful for mine and the other leaders' leadership.
Totally unexpected. I don't look for kudos but it feels good knowing that you're doing something cool and God has called you to the right place.

Don't worry. You're going to do great. Things at Massanetta are going great. Can't wait to have you here keynoting here next summer. Hope all is well.
Take care and get some rest.
Peace.

Anonymous said...

Hello to the Dread Pirate Finklestein! ashley

Anonymous said...

Hey, cool to find your blog, Alan. A mutual old friend pointed me toward it.

Peace,
kairos