Day 3 Alyson

When the planning of this trip began, I had zero intentions of going.  I had always stayed home and greeted the family when they returned.  I listened to all their stories, watched the photo slide shows, and reveled in the group bonding and sense of community they had cultivated.  Something was different this year.  I felt a call, a push to go.  I resisted the Spirit for a while and finally made the decision. I was going and there was no turning back.  It is only Wednesday. We have been immersed in the Asheville community for 3 days and already I have experience things I would have never encountered had I stayed behind.  I have participated in a bible study where I sat side by side with homeless, emotionally wounded, mentally challenged, and addicted individuals.  I found common ground with them, prayed with them, and shared my own wisdom and failures.  This is where I realized none of us are all that different from one another.  And no one ASKS to be homeless or go through dark times.  It could just as easily be me.  These are God’s children here, desperately reaching for a hand, a shoulder, and break.  They have FAITH that’s greater than some of the people I know personally.  They have broken me of the ability to judge others.  They have broken my fear and prejudice.  They have broken my pride and ungratefulness.  Today I can say I have a better understanding of what MISSION really is.  It’s reaching out to hands most don’t want to touch.  It’s a conversation with someone so lonely they feel like they could cry at any given moment.  It’s sacrificing your daily routine to give others things we take for granted every day.  It’s seeing your fellow human beings through God’s eyes, loving them as your brothers and sisters, as beloved Children of God.  Mission is love.  Mission is grace.  Mission is acting on this great faith we hold so dear.  I thank God for the call to go on this trip.  He has irreversibly changed me once again.  He has shown me a more excellent way.

-Alyson