the beach

it's friday early evening. 100 or so youth+adults arrive at 33rd street and seawall in galveston. youth are running in the sand towards the water to play after a long week of working on hurricane ike recovery projects and the adults are STILL silently working...this time they are setting up tech equipment, building a frame out of 2x4's that would later serve as a projection screen, and getting ready for a bbq dinner.

watching all this unfold was a little bit of home for me, and it was bittersweet. i was so happy to reunite with all my people at st. andrew umc (and not be one of those adults working!), but i was also a little sad that for the first time in 9yrs i had not been a part of a saumc mission trip. i really miss this time of year and the worship with this group that makes me feel so close to God.

as the sun set, stan led us in a time of worship...our view was miles of water and miles of sky lit by a half moon and twinkling stars. so beautiful!! as we sang, our praises were not only heard by the heavens, but by the passerbys on the seawall who stopped to join us. it reminded me of what it might have been like when john wesley preached in the streets...curiosity might just be the catalyst for an eternal relationship with the Creator of universe.

this is one of the songs we sang...

How He Loves by David Crowder

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
And Heaven meets earth like an unforseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

may God continue to bless the ministry at st. andrew umc and all those curious youth. it changed my life forever.