Yo brethren, what up with thee?

So it has been an absolute age since I updated this and there is mucho good reasoning for the delay. I have spent the last week with a party of four other adutls and 21 teenagers on our MIddle High Mission Trip - what a week!!!! Between teenage flatulence, high emotion and the movement of God in all our lives it really was quite a trip. Our destination was Chattanooga in Tennessee, USA where we were to spend the week in all sorts of ministry sites. We did a lot of work with children randing in ages from 6 months through to 15/16 yr olds. We also did some work with the homeless of Chattanooga as well as some home repair, yardwork and ramp building at the homes of those who are wheel chair bound. Each minstry site was special for some reason and every teenager that went on our trip professed to having met with God in some way through the work they were involved in. We went on the trip with an organisation called Youthworks (www.youthworks.org) who turned out to be extremely good. They had our days thoroughly planned and kept us on the go for 14hrs a day between ministry, activity and group devotion time. As the week progressed all of our kids got more and more into what they were doing and more and more into the group devotion time. On Thursday night, the Youthworks crew put together a very special evening for us which involved some very cool worship some awesome times of encouragement. The final act in this program was a footwashing ceremony. That may sound really weird to some of you but this is quite a common ceremony in christian circles as we try to model what Jesus did in John 13 when we read of how he washed the feet of his disciples. I have been invleved in many footwashing ceremonies throughout my ministry but I must confess that this was simply one of the most moving times I have ever experienced. As we moved from the explanation into the actual time of washing each others feet, I was approached by my new friend Derk who asked if he could wash my feet. I said yes and then put my feet in his basin. What followed was a very moving time for me because I literally had my feet washed. You see Christians are not good at modelling our Lord normally in the whoel foot washing thing. I guess it is because feet gross us all out a bit but normally the habit is to quickly dip your feet in the water and have the 'washer' cup some water in their hand and pour it over your feet before quickly moving your foot out of the basin and having it dried and putting your sock back on and moving on. It is all normally very swift and extremely painless. What struck me about Thursday night was how Derk took my foot in his hands and very carefully and intentionally washed my feet. This may sound strange to some of your reading this right now, but by his touch, I knew that this was not just another ceremonial act of duty from one youth worker to another. No, this was an act of love from one christian brother to another. This was all good but after Derk had done with my feet I was then to move on with the basin and wash the feet of the guys in my small group. Eli, Billy, Dustin and Chris all allowed me to wash their feet and pray with them personally and after the experience I had had with Derk washing my feet, there was no greater honour or privilege at that moment than to get on my knees and humbly wash the feet of these wonderful kids. I really don't know how I can put words to my experience that night except to say that I knew the presence of Christ and the greatness of his love for a few moments that night. I knew it as I had my own feet washed and I knew it as I washed the feet of my small group thereafter. This was a great end to a great week. All along, I had been challenging our teens to listen for the voice of God in everything they did. You see my big thing at the minute is to communicate to youth that God is not just some lifeless being that we have created a religion out of, rather, He is alive and constantly communicating with us. My challenge was that His voice is to be heard in our lives and I really think that on Thursday night as we washed each others feet we all heard the whisper of God.

Though the week was very cool in terms of ministry, it was also extremely difficult personally. As you know from my previous ramblings and all the pictures I have been sharing, I recently became a Dad and so leaving for a week was not as easy a task as it might have been before June 6th. The birth of Eva has really changed me. I have a completely new idea of what it means to be Margaret's husband and of course, each day I am learning more of what it means to be Dad. Both of these new definitions in my life made it an immensely difficult week to be away. normally Margaret has been able to come along on mission trips and has been an integral part of our team but this year she was not able to. You see the birth of this wee one has made my love for Margaret grow more and more than it ever did before, and last week I simply missed my wife. I could not wait to get home to see her. Becoming Dad since June 6th also made this trip hard. I have wrote often on this blog about how amazing it has been to watch my wee girl grow and how every new movement or expression is just so exciting. To take myself out of that for a week was heartbreaking. Perhaps the hardest thing though is this - I leave again on friday night with our High School Mission Trip to Tunica, MS. It has been on my mind since the middle of last week that this one will be even harder than the week just gone. I think the hardest thing was that we got through last week and have been reunited again and to be honest it sucks that I am only home for a week before jaunting off again. I love ministry and I love mission and I even love going away to get the chance to do both of these - but, this week it is just hard.

Tomorrow I turn 27. Wow! It seems like no time since I left school and now I am beginning the three your slide down to 30. I am officially in my late 20's now. It's not depressing - I really don't care what age I am to be honest - but it is weird. Do you remember when you were young you never thought you would be older? I think that is what I am feeling now. Don't get me wrong, 27 is not old at all - it is just one of those ages you never think of when you are younger.

Ah well!!

Anywho, it is late and I still have a couple of pics to add to this so I shall sign off for now.

Blessings