So I got back from UMArmy today. What a week! It was a good time and I met some new people and got to hang out with old friends. There's not a lot that I can write... I dunno.. there aren't a lot of words to share with you about this week. UMArmy is always something you have to experience yourself.
Like I said, I did get to hang with some old friends. I got to see and talk a lot with my friend Kat Farr from last year. We get along really well.. it's kinda crazy/awesome. We talked a whole lot... it was really cool... I also got to hang out with my friend Matthew. I haven't ever been super good friends iwth him before, but I finally got to hang out with him a lot and talk with him too. This year was different simply because our church group was so small and everyone pretty much had their own friends, new or old. So I hung back some and talked with old friends, did what I needed to get done. It was different for sure.
My small group was cool. We got a ton of work done - a group of very hard workers, just not very good friends. We got along okay, but, I keep comparing to last year's small group. It was just so great last year. But like I said, we got a whole lot done which was awesome. God taught me a lot this year. We were assigned to scrape and paint this house. If you know me, you know I'd rather build something so I can hammer and cut and stuff. Not was the case... So the first day instead of scraping like the rest of the group, I grabbed a toilet brush and some clorox and this sprayer thing and got to scrubbin the mold and mildew off the side of the house. It wasn't a very glamorous job but I didn't have to scrape. And God really taught me to be more humble this week. He got me down on the ground and had me scrubbing a house with a toilet brush...
He showed me that I wasn't on that trip for myself. I wasn't there to do things for myself; I wasn't there to get my mind off of things; I wasn't there to hammer or build. He sent me there to serve others and to serve well. He sent me there to help an old woman have a better looking house. He sent me there to make an impact on someone else. I won't know if I accomplished the last, but I hope something happened in that department.
He was faithful to me this week and He showed me to serve Him and to completely surrender myself to Him. Without complete surrender, you can't truly live. So maybe now I can truly live.
A woman told someone this week that she thought I was happier than last year, and that I had more joy. Then this morning, as she blessed my communion bread, she told me I had a renewed joy and a renewed life. I truly believe that. I am so much happier. I don't know how, I don't know why. So much has happened in the past year that there's not just one thing I can point my finger at for an explanation. I just know that today I have more joy than I did on Sunday or even on Monday. God gave me a new heart this week, He washed me clean. Hallelujah and Amen.