This week, I went to North Carolina for the first time with about 20 people I didn't know, and came back with good friendships with all of them.
Road-trips are my favorite. They force you to be present with the people around you and spend time investing in them and getting to know them. I believe they're a blessing from God, something to be cherished and rejoiced in.
This road trip was nothing like any I've been on before. We started off (as usual, almost too usual for me) at 5 am to begin the first leg of our journey. We did the usual stops on the way for gas and sustenance and such and made it to North Carolina in about 10 hours. Then began the difficult part of the day. We would stay in the Smokey Mountains near a river called the Nantahala.Which meant that the road leading to the site we were camping at was winding along the natural flow of the mountain, and definitely not as straight-forward as all of us would have liked. It required us to go much slower than highway speed and there were multiple people feeling the effects of motion-sickness due to the nature of the mountain that forced the road to be effectually a dragon's tail. But after 40 long minutes of trying to keep my eyes open and focused on something, we made it to our campsite. It was a beautiful little alcove in the middle of the wilderness, with a babbling creek running through and endless gorgeous green trees surrounding every inch. There we set up camp and would build the most impossible tent ever for the girls in the group. And besides being complicated to put up, the tent proved to be almost impossible to keep shut the entire week. But that's a whole other story.
Our first night there we had a little taste of home for me, some good ole' Mexican food. And it was good too! I guess it's a possibility for good Mexican food outside of Texas but I don't know if I'm quite convinced.
We had good fellowship and good people for the meal. Charles' (my boss) family was there with us because they knew the Nantahala like the back of their hand. It was cool to see him spend time with his family and gave some insight into his personality.
The girls that I got to know are absolutely amazing. They all have their different quirks and are special to me in so many ways. I can see them working out the gospel in their own lives and it's amazing to see how strong they are in the word already. The seniors going to college this year seem like they are so ready for what God is bringing them and it brings me joy to see their excitement. I can't wait to get to know them more throughout the summer, and hopefully become a close friend and confidant even thought I might only be around them this summer, I hope they know that I want to invest in them for a lifetime.
I think the kick off to this summer was a perfect one. Without this trip it would be incredibly hard and awkward for me to get to know each of them. There still are people I need to get to know, and I hope to invest more in the leaders as well, but so far, I'm seeing God's glory in the good and the bad that I've seen and felt this summer.
I'm hoping you're praying for me! Mostly because I need that support and help from the Lord. And even if you're not ( I don't expect you too) I hope you appreciate what I'm saying. Thanks for reading my blog and I hope to fill you in more about what last week was all about.
