So, here's the thing...

This week has brought about many things... a new group arrived yesterday, we greeted them with open arms at Harbor House- that's correct, I'm back at Harbor House, the scene of the crime that stole my voice and gave me a cough only life-long smokers dream of having. Also, the location without (much) internet accessibility. Nevertheless... a new group has arrived and yesterday we got through the prayer tour unscathed, and each of us (myself included) with a new perspective of the city. Ultimately this is the objective of the prayer tour- to take you on a behind the scenes look of the city that you are about to serve in. For me, this is my sixth (or so) prayer tour, and each time I'm finding it harder and harder to give. I know the stats, I know the locations, I know the neighborhoods, I've given the prayer tour so many times, and heard it even more. So for me it has kind of become old hat. But the truth is, God gave me fresh eyes last night; kind of like having a fresh, new group, besides the fact I've heard it tons of times, they haven't... and that's the point. I didn't hear any new information last night, I didn't have any huge revelations from God, but I was able to go into this prayer tour with a new mindset of understanding that this is their first time, they don't know if I forget something, they won't know if I say something too soon, too late, whatever... they just take what their told and experience it innocently- as being brand new.

Today we went to the San Francisco Food Bank... it was awesome. We were able to do so much stuff. We started by taking huge boxes of carrots and breaking them down into smaller boxes. This project started outside, but quickly was halted by the weather conditions that made our new group from Seattle feel very much at home. We then went inside to work on rice while they relocated our carrot endeavor to an empty project room. We rocked the rice. Then went on break. Then commenced with the carrotting. Then sang happy birthday to one of our project managers. Then worked on Capri Sun. It was so much fun, and such a great opportunity to see my group at work. They were great, and really worked with an attitude of service and spunk. They turned everything into a contest to see how many boxes of rice, or who could finish the big container of carrots first, and they did such mundane tasks as if they were doing it for the Lord... and guess what? They were...

The afternoon brought about a brand new activity that we've never done before called Future Friends. Each member of the group made two sack lunches and after we completed our work at SF Food Bank, we went to Golden Gate Park, found Sharon's Meadow and Hippie Hill and asked people if we could sit down and have lunch with them. I went with a group of three students, who were genuinely scared about having to approach strangers with a sack lunch and spend 1.5-2 hours talking to them, and we met some really cool people. They had some very bold opinions about a lot of things, but genuinely seemed to enjoy the company and allowed us to share not only our lunch, but shared a little of themselves with us too.

After we made our friends, we headed back to the Tenderloin and did a delivery route with POH. This is another great experience for groups to have because it opens their eyes to the realization of what many people of the Tenderloin call "home". After our route, we went to dinner... ETHIOPIAN!!!! (one of my favorites- it involves eating with our hands!!!!) And then we headed back to our housing site. This took longer than expected because someone gave the driver the wrong directions (Mandie) and so we ended up touring some interesting areas of Oakland. But during this "adventure" around Oakland, the driver started the students debriefing their day. He asked them what one word they would use to describe their day. It was a legitimate question, and the answers were really cool. "Interesting, Eye-Opening, Heart-breaking, Helpless, Freeing..." are some of the ones that really stuck out to me. I wonder how many times in a day we could describe our everyday life with one of these words. I'm sure there are several "heart-breaking" things that happen in a day, but do we bother to pay attention to them? Do we allow ourselves the opportunity to "debrief" our everyday lives? Life here isn't all poops and giggles. I have my blah days, my "uneventful" days. Some days just don't even seem worth "writing home" about. But why not? Why not value every day we're given? Who says you have to be working in a "ministry site" or a "church" or anything specific to be making a difference? You don't. I needed my world to be shaken up, and by golly it has been. I'm aware of more things that I ever could have dreamed or imagined, but when I look back at my "old life" in Indiana I had eventful things happen every (or almost every) day that I just glanced over. Took me dropping my life and moving to California to figure it out, but at least I did.

I found out that I'll be staying here in California for an extra week. I'm excited, sad, glad, nervous, anxious, giddy, etc... about this decision, but it's been made. I look forward to saying goodbye to a place that I never in a million years would have imagined that I would have ended up, but I also am looking forward to the things that God will choose to show me and teach me along the way.

Before I depart I have one question for you... In one word, how would you describe your day? I want to know.