Wednesday (continued)

Wednesday March 17, 2010

Whew! Today was a whirl-wind day, we were able to do things today in one day that could have been accomplished in a week. The morning began with the twisty turney road to Greeneville. After arriving to Mountain Vision we were split up into our groups from Monday and then we were off to go visit the elderly! Unfortunately, the lady our group was scheduled to meet was not up for company today, but with a little reorganizing a group of five girls three of us CollegeLifers and two from U-Turn, went with the occupational therapist Crista to visit these two very dynamic elderly women. The first Goldie, was just amazing to see what was to come because her floor was completely sunken in and we found out that the U-Turn men would be coming back in the next weeks to fix it. The next was Emma, she was a hoot! We all had to take a pit stop in the lobby of the assisted living home and we got caught talking with the coordinator and this little firecracker was on her way to find us. She asked us if we were singing to any other old ladies.

Once we got to Emma's room she showed us all her pictures from her life and the one that struck me the most was her wedding photo. It was a candid photo of her and her late husband running out of the procession with these just joyful faces. Emma's dress was beautiful and we learned she had designed it in a dress making class. We learned all about her life and her struggles like losing her husband after only eight short years of marriage and also we saw her faithfulness to the Lord. If there is one thing I want to take back from this trip its something I learned from Emma is that she knows God is sufficient for her and all I have to do is rely on Him in any struggle or even in the good times. She had such amazing dedication, and I can't say I will be waking at 2am every morning to spend an hour in prayer like dear old Emma but I know that I need to pray for a newfound dedication to my walk with Christ.

After lunch we went to the U-Turn for Christ men's ranch and got the grand tour. Tennessee is a beautiful place, and this place though it is a humble home proves it. All the projects that have touched the ranch over the past eight years have changed in from an old rundown house and a productive community who is bringing people to Christ and it is truly incredible. We were able to worship with the U-Turners and we got to hear Pastor Steve (the head honcho)  give his great testimony, as well as Kyle, then finally through a few tears I gave my own. I felt as if I could relate to everyone around me, we are all broken and all we need is Christ's love.

This evening we helped with a community outreach project at the church we are staying at where families could come and get free family portraits made. We had a small turn-out but I really experienced the Lord working immediately when they were here. For dinner we got to experience a local favorite of Pal's, where they serve you frenchy fries and razzies. It was really fun and the food wasn't half bad. I love being here and being able to be stretched and also being able to do these things with my Lifegroup has been such a blessing as well. Now I can't wait to see was plan God has in store for us tomorrow.

and to leave you with this Luke's dad shared this with us today through Luke Isaiah 58:10-14

~Sarah Simmons