twenty-three

i’ve had a hard time articulating the last portion of our days in hayesville, north carolina. even now, about 3 weeks after returning from our trip, i still struggle to understand what happens when a group of 15 people are placed together by God to contribute to his Kingdom. and it boggles my mind how those perfect strangers can be so open with each other, so vulnerable, so willing to share themselves and learn about each other, about each other’s struggles and faith. i’m amazed at by the times we spent, around a living room, around a dinner table, around a bon fire, in the evenings of our trip.

below is my third and final "story" post on north carolina. i hope these have articulated the trip. it’s been a pleasure sharing stories with people about God’s work in the lives of students over spring break, both here and in person. i hope to share a copy of our trip’s video on the blog sometime this week, so stay tuned. thanks!
seth

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we sat on couches, curled up in sweat pants and hoodies. some made coffee or drank juice. others sipped nalgene water bottles, re-hydrating from the warmth of the day and the hard work. i picked up my guitar and sang a few songs from a loosely bound pack of worship songs, songs we all know from our tuesday night gatherings at the INN. some how, as we begin to enter into our evening time of worship, debrief, and sharing, God meets us, calms us, joins us in our work. we join him in his work. we join each other as one body.

we open our bibles to ephesians. this week, we’ve talked through the whole book, looking at statements about all the has been done "through Christ" and "in Christ". we reflect on the blessing of God, through Christ, that we see each day. we discuss what it means to be members of the body, members of a building, much like the buildings we work on, pieces of a whole community, vital to each other’s survival and accountable to taking care of each other as faithful brothers and sisters. we grow into a better understanding of each other.

a single voice speaks. going around the room, one at a time, over the course of the week, we share our stories. however it comes out, we articulate what our faith looks like, where we’ve come from, who God has placed in our lives that has shaped us. i share about the journey i am on, a journey of deeply rooted faith coming from my parents and family who loved me growing up. i share about hard times in high school, about going to college, about meeting stacy, about being married. i share about the journey i’m still on, a journey filled with hope and doubt, faith and challenge, a continuing journey. we listen to each other. we laugh with each other, we cry and hold each other’s hands when the stories are too hard for words to tell. we are vulnerable and open with one another, trusting in God’s love that binds this group together.

the warmth of the fire is almost too much for me as i stand outside on the final night of our trip. the laughter of the group fills the crisp north carolina air. gathered around the fire, we talk about going home, about how we can continue the conversation over coffee or around similar bon fires indicative of spring quarter. i get amazing music recommendations from an expert, while the rest of the guys stoke the fire a little more than i’d like them to. i chuckle and shake my head at their exuberance. God has brought us together for one last night. the bonds and friendship he is forming may or may not continue to develop, but one thing is for sure: this trip will be remembered. through pictures, journals, blogs, and the stories we will tell, this good work will live on and be a blessing not only to our team and the people we served with, but to many, many others. and so the question of how and why we are brought together fades into the happy understanding that for tonight, we share the warmth of a fire and that tomorrow, we will be called to share the things we’ve learned to bless our world.

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