Joe's cuppa thoughts

One of the highlights of the trip for me would be the time spent working with and getting to know the other people from the other churches. It was awesome how well our churches intermingled so quickly. It reminded me that we all serve a great God and that we are a family.

It's hard to pick just one or two highlights from such a week, but another thing that I won't soon be forgetting is the sentence "lemme on yo neck." While I like little kids and such, going into the trip I wasn't really looking forward to hanging out with them as much as some others. But through the Challenge Circle and just playing random games with them, I grew to love them and looked forward to playing with them. Most of the kids we were in contact with were very poor, so simply playing with them made them very happy.

I think of the quote that says something to the effect of: "God does not call the equipped. He equips the called." I learned that I sure am NOT "equipped." I learned this when I was thrown into a position as the "hype coach" of had to create a rap/cheer. I had nothing except 15 kids staring at me, waiting to hear what I had. All the while having only 2 minutes to make something good. I decided to let them handle it by asking if they had any sweet beats or things of that nature. While I may not be equipped to make a sweet rap, or have the arms the size of Nick's waist, or know how to form letters with my hands (G-O-O-D M-O-R-N-I-N-G.....it's hard to do that in lowercase letters)....a willingness and a good a good attitude are all that God needs to do something special. Someone once told me that God doesn't look for our ablilities -- He looks for our availabilities.

~ Joe