Serving others can definitely be a humbling task. And yet it is so rewarding in the end!
I have spent the last ten days helping with the Florida Baptist Disaster Relief efforts in New Orleans. 
What was originally designed to be a fairly easy trip, with quite a bit of down time, turned into something quite a bit more. Some individuals had to cancel at the last minute, which left only four of us remaining on the team. To make a long story short ... most days we worked a minimum of 18-20 hours a day with an hour break at most. It was definitely exhausting – and a learning experience as well. (But at least we had a few "friends" to keep us company in the kitchen... let's see... there was Mickey and Minnie - and possibly a few young'uns - and all of the little nameless roaches and other critters running around!) Thankfully we were able to keep "our friends" away from the food that we were serving! At least most of the time. :-)
What was originally designed to be a fairly easy trip, with quite a bit of down time, turned into something quite a bit more. Some individuals had to cancel at the last minute, which left only four of us remaining on the team. To make a long story short ... most days we worked a minimum of 18-20 hours a day with an hour break at most. It was definitely exhausting – and a learning experience as well. (But at least we had a few "friends" to keep us company in the kitchen... let's see... there was Mickey and Minnie - and possibly a few young'uns - and all of the little nameless roaches and other critters running around!) Thankfully we were able to keep "our friends" away from the food that we were serving! At least most of the time. :-)
I love to serve others... however I can. Usually. But this trip stretched me in ways that I hadn't expected. There was often very little appreciation from the people that we were helping and quite a few challenges that we had to overcome. But as promised in Scripture, God didn't allow to experience anything that we couldn't handle without His help.And that's the key. "Without His help." In fact, half-way through the week we called our church missions director and requested specific prayers. And in less than 24 hours it was obvious that God was answering in unexpected ways! Here's just one of the many examples that I could give: When we desired endurance to make it through another long day... God provided assistance through some volunteers and gave us extra hours of rest! Time after time, God revealed His presence and His strength through answered prayers.
And once again, I owe you my gratitude for your dedicated prayers. Thank you, my friends. Thank you!
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