Ready, Set, ...

I was so thankful to get a solid night's sleep last night! But I laid down and my mind raced... I had forgetten to do my Lenten discipline (read the devo and my prayer list), I had forgotten to call Denise back, and did I need to lock the door to the church or was it locked already? I finally drifted off, but not before wondering, "What if my alarm doesn't go off?" I imagined someone coming in to wake me up, saying "Hey Crystal, it's nearly 7:00" (we planned to load the van at 7:00).

I awoke to a knock. It was Tyler. "Hey, are you up?" "No. What time is it?" "It's 6:50."

So today didn't start as planned, but I can't complain too much. Okay, I'd like to complain that I really wanted coffee and when we finally pulled over to gas up I bought a cheapie gas station cappiccino and spilled it all over myself. The day got better from there...

Some highlights from today, for me, were pulling over in Memphis at the city's visitor center (to use the bathrooms). We were informed that Graceland was just a mile up the road...why not? So we swung by and took some photos. Then for lunch, we had planned to stop at a rest area...but found it was CLOSED! So we looked on the map and found a state park 30 miles up the road. Though I was a tad lost finding the park grounds, the result was peaceful. And Daniel, who is an international student from Ghana shared, "I'm seeing a new part of this country. This landscape is much like Ghana." That was cool. Also, I'm so thankful Tyler offered to help with the driving responsibilities. He drove from Jackson to Mobile today. It was cool to hear his excitedment as we crossed the border into Alabama. "I've never driven on roads like this, with the land and trees like this."

And tonight we find ourselves, comfortably, in St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Mobile, AL. There are 2 other college groups here, one from Michigan Tech, the other from St. Louis. Plus there are other 'random' volunteers too. It's nice to meet others :) We just finished our orientation and learned a bit more about the population we'll serve this week (in Bayou La Batre, south from here). I think we're all in for a shock. As John said, most of us come from middle class backgrounds and this will be far from 'middle'. South of I-10 he said there are 3 main populations: African-American, caucasians and Asians. Within the Asian group there are Vietnamese, Burmese and Loatian. (I wish I would have known this; I could have listed my Thai language skills, though rusty. I learned last year that the Loatian language is VERY similar to Thai.)

While driving down today, I searched for visual signs of the hurricane. It was hard to tell what remained or was from other things. Since I came down over last year's spring break, to Ocean Springs, MS, I wondered what work remained. Surely volunteers have continued to help people. Perhaps it was the sheer number of people and their houses that was taking a long time. Tonight John shared some insight. The people living south of I-10 were fairly poor before hurricane Katrina, but the storm basically destroyed their livelihood - fishing. Boats went missing, processing plants were destroyed. The poor were deprived of their means of earning a living... What will we see tomorrow? Who will we help? I'm not sure. What cultural differences will we encounter? And how will the students respond? Living in Thailand, I have a good idea of how the average Southeast Asian family lives...will this translate exactly into America's South? Heck, will Loatians be much like Thais? I will do my best to be open to where and whom God sends us. May my eyes, ears and heart be open to listen and to love/serve unconditionally.

Stay tuned to learn who we do work with and what we're helping them with. Good night.