Mexico, or Texas?

Days 1 & 2
So, instead of what many typical college students will be doing for spring break, I am going on a mission trip to Mexico. I left school on Friday around 1:00 PM and drove the 4 hours to Columbia, MS to meet the team I am currently with at the American-Mexican border. Before reaching Columbia, I only knew two people who were going to be travelling with the group and I can’t be more honest when I say I didn’t know them that well either. Since I’ve been with the group, I’ve gotten to know several of the people that are near my age, and a few of those that aren’t. I’ll go over those people later though. When I got to Columbia, I had to meet up with the family I was staying with for the night at a tennis match, and because a good friend I’d met several years ago was in town and at the match, I hastily jumped out of the car. I chatted with Nathan Burkett (the friend), and Graysen Miller for a few minutes, when Nathan and I decided to throw the frisbee. Upon reaching my car to get the frisbee out, I realized I’d locked my keys in the car. So not only are my keys locked in the car, 4 hours away from the spare set, but more importantly, Nathan and I can’t throw the frisbee. Thank God (literally) that the tennis courts were right next to the fire department, who gladly unlocked my car for me, saving me the money I’d have spent on a locksmith, and also giving us a way of getting to the frisbee. Asides from that, the night was rather uneventful. I stayed with Graysen Miller and her family, along with Olivia Broome. We had a good dinner and then later that night we played piano and watched some lousy movie and Monsters, Inc. 

Saturday (I am considering Friday and Saturday as one, to fill you in on why there will eventually be three days under this post), began early and we hit the road around 8:00 AM. Riding on the bus was great. The three of us got the back seat and we all slept for about the first 3 or 4 hours. It was rest that we all needed and enjoyed. A sonic lunch in Cajun country made for an interesting stop, and shortly after lunch Olivia introduced Graysen and I to the T.V. series, Glee. We were instantly hooked.
We watched two episodes on the bus on my laptop and watched another few that night at the hotel. My roommate at the hotel, Gary, may have been too much of a partier for me. I must add that sarcasm doesn’t flow well through a text on a webpage. Gary is at least three times older than I am, and he is a great guy. (As I type this he is sitting at a table helping some of the younger girls make crafts for the kids we’ll be visiting tomorrow.) He is a retired social worker and now works on the side as a professional snorer.

Sunday began just as early as Saturday had, and we hit the road again bright and early. We were making record time, but it just was not meant to be…after about 3.5 hours of riding, the bus had a problem. The fan belt snapped, so we made a group stop in Corpus Christi for about an hour or two while we waited for the bus to be repaired. However, in this sad event, we children of the trip were able to charge my laptop and watch more of Glee. We knocked out a good 4 episodes on Sunday, and I must’ve eaten more junk food at that Shell station than I’ve ever eaten. I suppose that’s the tragedy of boredom and a broken bus. We made it to the compound that we’re staying at in Palmview, TX around 3:00 PM and it was fantastic to be able to get off the bus. We had an orientation, dinner, a short worship service, and a Wal-Mart run. I mean, what is a mission trip without a Wal-Mart run?! We had an interesting time walking around and just being goofy like teenagers always are in a Wal-Mart. After the trip, we watched our episode of Glee for the day. We decided to ration the episodes to one a day since we only had 5 more left and 5 more days of the mission trip. We finished the episode around 11:30 PM and we all headed to bed. When I walked into my bunk house full of sleeping men, it was like there had been an unannounced snoring contest. Everyone and their mother in that bunk house was snoring. I was tempted to record them but I’m sure I will later on in the week. It had been a long two days (technically three days, but who’s counting?) filled with naps, Glee, and a long, long bus ride. But they had been good days.

We made it to Proud Land.


-Revelation 22:20
“Come, Lord Jesus.”