North Carolina

We just finished two weeks of ministry in Black Mountain, North Carolina. We were welcomed by Excel College, where we set up our tents on their front lawn for the two weeks. They invited us to their events and even into their homes. We felt so loved and welcomed by them and the special community that they have there.

After training camp, I wrote a blog about daily life in Gainsville, Georgia. I thought it would be fun to offer you a glimpse into what the past two weeks of my life looked like camping in North Carolina. 

In the morning, my alarm goes off at 6:15. I thought getting out of my sleeping bag in Georgia was hard, but it was much harder in North Carolina. The mornings were frigid. It doesn’t usually take me long to get up because I know if I don’t, I miss breakfast. So I got up, slid my shoes on, and hiked up the hill for breakfast at 6:30. Breakfast was usually oatmeal, which never gets old. After breakfast, I would go upstairs to the bathroom and get ready for the day, then back to my tent. 

Once I met my tent buddy back in the tent, we had about an hour before leaving for ministry. I used this time as my quiet time to pray and read my Bible. Every morning, I was tempted to crawl back into my sleeping bag and get more sleep. And honestly, one morning, I did. The morning I didn’t spend time with the Lord before ministry, I had the worst day. Even though I was better rested, I had a bad day because I didn’t set my eyes on the Lord before going out and serving. After that day, I prioritized having quiet time in the morning, even when I didn’t feel like it. 

After a chilly devotional time and laughter with my tent buddy, it’s time to get up and meet to go to ministry. Each morning we meet at 9 to talk about where everyone is going and pray over the day. Because about 60 of us were staying there, groups were sent to different places every day. The first week, my team was sent to serve at a conference center, where we helped them prepare for the biggest catering event they have ever done. This looked like polishing silverware and glasses, cleaning hotel rooms, folding towels, plating desserts, making salads, and setting tables. 

Here is the birthday picture I sent to my mom of us folding towels:

After serving for the week, Saturday we had a day to sleep in, have a slow morning, go to Goodwill and the mall, and walk around downtown Asheville. The day was as full of fun as it could have been. By coincidence, while we were at the mall, we saw the twin brother of one of our guys serving in Kentucky. Downtown Asheville was also fun. Asheville is a unique town, making it fun to explore. At the end of our day, my team met for dinner at Mellow Mushroom, somewhere I had never heard of. It was a bit overwhelming initially, but it was so fun to have a pizza dinner with the team. 

Here is a picture from a store in Asheville where we found these crazy goggles:

During the second week in Black Mountain, my team was serving our hosts by helping them with one of their projects: renovating a church into a home. The view at this ministry location was so beautiful, and we were blessed to be able to work outside and enjoy it. For most of the week, we worked on redoing the doors. We spent several days sanding the epoxy off the doors and using wood putty to fill any chips in the doors, then sanding the excess off. After all that sanding, we carried the doors inside to be primed, then outside to dry. We didn’t finish priming the doors before the end of our time in North Carolina, but we saved someone else many hours worth of work. 

Here is a picture of the view:

I was struggling with this ministry because I wasn’t seeing the progress and I didn’t see the task fully finished. As someone who is a big achiever, I like to see things completed. I spent a lot of my time at ministry praying as I worked. I was praying that God would teach me something through this frustration and help me grow in this area of my life. Even though we didn’t finish the doors, we were still serving. I’m still learning that life isn’t all about getting things done, and God is giving me opportunities to grow in this. This week, though it was hard, pushed and challenged me; it was good and helped me grow. God knows what he is doing. He’s always at work. 

We were usually done with ministry by four, but dinner wasn’t until six. This time was a toss-up as far as what we could be doing. Sometimes we get tea tree oil to prevent lice, have team time, go to our tents, shower, or simply hang out. Then we all gather to eat dinner together. 

Our hosts decided to take us on an adventure on Friday this week. We drove two hours to Rainbow Falls. We took a short hike to a waterfall, where we ate lunch and spent the rest of the day. We were able to cliff jump into the waterhole below the waterfall. Of course, I did it. When else will I be able to jump off a waterfall? The jump was so fun, and the water was so cold. The water was so cold that it was hard to breathe when you came up from under the water. At that point, I swim as fast as possible to frantically climb on a rock and recover. Even though the water was freezing, I am glad I decided to do it. In this season in my life, I am learning more and more how to live more in the present time that God has placed me in than in the past he has walked me through and the future he has planned. 

Here are some pictures from our adventurous outing:

On our last day, we volunteered at a Fall Festival, where we ran games and dressed as mascots. It was a fun day filled with kids, candy and popcorn, laughter, coffee, and petting therapy dogs. We left immediately after the festival, but we all had a fun time being able to serve the community in this way and enjoy the festival. 

Some other highlights from our time in North Carolina include ice cream runs, movie nights, UberEats, sharing testimonies, spontaneous fall photoshoots, and trying Ritz crackers with peanut butter and pickes. 

Now, we are back in Gainseville to debrief before we leave for Guatemala on the 15th! The reunion with the guys was so fun, noisy, and special. We were so excited to see them again, even though we had only been apart for two weeks. There was a lot of  screams of excitement, hugs, and laughter. Coming back together, we are closer and more united than we were before. Praise God for the community that we have. He has blessed us with each other and brought us together for a reason.