Can I just brag on yall for a minute about...well yourselves? This past week has been so humbling and uplifting as I've gotten to hear from so many of you as you check in on me frequently. I had a really tough stretch going into this week and had just so many people speak into my life and pray for me to come out of it, and God was faithful to do so! With all the wisdom that's gotten poured into me and some insight I've taken from a book called "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell that I'm going through with my sister, I feel like my hope in Jesus is so much farther along than it was even seven days ago. That's just freakin awesome. Yall make me so happy.
The blood drive did indeed happen last Friday, and truthfully it was a moderate success, not quite the turnout we'd hoped for. Many of the people Siera and I got signed up couldn't come, for all kinds of different reasons. However, most said we could call on them to come to the next one when we have it, so there was a silver lining. Proud to say I gave blood for the first time, third one to go in first one to come out. Felt pretty hoss-like after I pumped out a pint in 4 minutes 9 seconds, destroying Siera's measly 10 minutes 5 seconds! I was eventually topped by a veteran giver later in the day by 20 seconds or so, but it was my rookie effort so I'll be a pro in no time.
This week the focus has totally changed, more manual labor and less walking. The church has a storage unit that's miles away and we needed to move the stuff it contained into a closer unit nearby. The thing was pretty packed, so Siera and I had to drive Derek's old truck to and from quite a few times before it was all transported. A few scary moments during the process, like when the transmission didn't want to go into second gear and we rolled through an unprotected left had turn going about 5 mph. Thankfully my driving skills are on par with my blood giving skills and we successfully navigated our way out of danger :) nobody died
We also had the task of taking down the v-shaped two way sign with Lakeside's name out front of the church. Dismantling the top parts was easy enough, just a bit of drilling and having fun with a hammer smackin stuff. The posts however...oh those stupid posts. May I just say that the hand saw is officially my least favorite tool in the world, after the broom, especially when it's rusty. Feels like your using sandpaper to go through four inches of wood. We cut them down closer to the ground with the saw for removal the next day (today). The post bases had to be dug out and pulled out, and with their cement bottoms they were pretty hefty. Derek helped me out at first to show what needed to be done. He had the first couple out in about 15 minutes. The third post took me approximately...an hour an a half. I don't know what I like less, being a scrawny kid with no upper body strength or being a city kid with no aptitude for things like pulling posts out of the ground. Either way, I detest being painfully reminded of both, in the same day no less. It didn't help that today was the hottest of the summer so far at 97 degrees (although admittedly 97 in Utah is WAY better than 97 in Houston). But hey, with all this strength training I can finally lift more than the bar the next time I'm in the weight room!
On Tuesday Derek took me to lunch to meet a guy named Wes, a 16 year old who's living with relatives in town because of a complicated family situation. His hope is that I can get to know him and over the summer spend some time with him and do some discipleship. I was unsure heading into it, just because I don't know how good I would be as a discipler. Our mission statement at InterVarsity at Texas Tech this coming year is "Every disciple a disciple maker" though, so maybe this is God's way of preparing me. I spent the next day with Wes as he helped Siera and I move stuff, and I just really loved him from the start. I can tell early on that he has respect for other people, which is something I admire about anyone, especially a guy under 18. It gives me the feeling that we can talk on each others' level and be real about things we face. So now I'm really excited about hanging out with him and get the sense that God has a direction He's going to take us.
That about wraps up the updates I think. Tomorrow and Saturday Lakeside will be running a booth at a festival in town called Syracuse Heritage Days, doing some face painting and giving out information about the church. So you'll be hearing how it went soon after.
I'd that yall give God prayers of praise, cause He has been so good and faithful! He definitely pulled me up out of the miry clay these past days and lavished joy and peace all over my life. And, AND for those who were praying for Becky and Matt, she is holding in there very well and the baby is very healthy, even startin to give a few kicks! Praise the Lord Almighty who is so good, so so good to us!
Til the next time, thanks for prayin, thanks for supporting, thanks for everything.
p.s. a lot of people have been asking for my address. It's
1424 N 630 W
Clinton, UT 84015
Faith, passion, and peace be with you in abundance.
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