For the record...

I'm sitting here, 11:30pm staring at my bed with the covers on the floor searching for movement. This isn't a normal occurance.

I was pleasantly reading Vanity Fair (it's a special edition all about AFRICA with Bono as co-editor) when I spotted something out of the corner of my eye. "What is that moving over there? Am I just getting sleepy?" Unfortunately not. A nicely sized black spider goes racing across my covers. I leaped out of bed and walked, calmly, into the living room. I asked Will where Billy was and he said upstairs. I then, unable to hold it in, squeal "THERE'S A SPIDER IN MY BED!! AGAIN!!" Will and I proceed to find a container in which to catch the spider (I mean, who wants spider guts in their bed). He, being the brave 10 year old boy that he is, catches the spider and releases him into the backyard. Had the spider been on the ground I would've squish that filthy thing just for interrupting my reading of Bono. As Will is catching the spider he yelped "THERE'S ANOTHER ONE!" By this point we're both squealing like sissy little girls and the rest of the Jones family comes downstairs to check it out. Much to my dismay we couldn't locate the 2nd spider even though we stripped the bed of all the covers and shook them vigorously.

For the record that would be the 3rd spider in my bed (4 if you count the one MIA) plus 2 more that I've squished that had been milling about the room. I know there are lots of spiders in Africa...but I'm expecting them. It's the unexpected ones that get me. The exterminator is coming again tomorrow and hopefully that will solve the problem.

Once again I am highly blessed that I have NEVER found a spider in my bed in Auburn.

Oh and here's the update of Memphis life that you've been eagerly awaiting: Nothing too grand to report. We're gearing up for camp that begins on Sunday so I've been glued to my computer designing materials for that event. I got to see my mom and Mama Anne yesterday- which was the HIGHLIGHT of the month. We got to spend some time together and it was wonderful to see two familiar faces. They also left lima beans and chicken casserole which I have been devouring ever since. I still have yet to understand why Memphis, located in the heart of the south, has no interest in southern food yet is determined to be fixated on Mexican cuisine. I have had more tacos in the past 30 days that I have in my entire existence. Lima beans are like mannah from heaven around here.

Everything is going great and camp is going to be amazing! I won't have computer access for a week so you'll just have to bite your fingernails in suspense until I return next Saturday. Thanks again for checking in! Sleep tight and I hope the bed bugs...er spiders....won't bite!

Africa and Inner City Memphis

Today was one of those days. I have to admit that God has definitely been saying something about Africa in the past couple of months. If you know me, I've picked up the megaphone for Uganda. That's all I would talk about. One day I got a phone call from Courtney asking me if I wanted to go to Africa. My jaw dropped. Me? Africa? Are you serious!? I'm pretty sure I squealed out a "YESSSSSS" as soon as she finished the question. Today I've gotten more emails and messages about Africa than I have, well.... ever.

One from Jessica, my best bud, telling me to pick up a Vanity Fair because it was all about Africa. (Which I did, and plan to read shortly) One from Sarah about interning with Invisible Children next summer. *Insert high pitched squeal of glee here* Having a conversation with one of the youth group guys about GOING to Ghana. Courtney saying "Megan you're going to get Africa in your blood once you go there. You're just going to love it!" Receiving an e-mail from Moe about Invisible Children being on THE NEWS! MSNBC! A message from Will who works at Invisible Children saying that he LOVED my Facebook status about Uganda. To Lance coming into our office recommending a book about Child Soldiers in Africa (which I also plan to purchase and read). Then Courtney raving about a book I have called "Hope In the Dark" with photography from Africa.

Wow. All of that was today. Africa. I mean it's just - everywhere. I'm leaving for Ghana in just a few weeks and all of it still seems surreal. I have no idea what God is going to reveal to me in Ghana. My game plan: to be open to God's will for me and hug on as many children as I can.

Speaking of children we had PowerHour on Monday. We showed up at the DownTown Church and it was in "da ghetto" for sure. I have never seen a true "ghetto" before. I mean, Auburn has its rough side of the tracks but it's not like this. I haven't seen this kind of REAL poverty before. We came into the church which was basically like an empty warehouse. There were kids sitting in a circle playing duck-duck-goose while their laughter echoed throughout the room. I jumped right in and immediately I could see that these kids were STARVING for love.

There was one little boy who came in named LD. He was about 3 years old and refused to smile. After lunch we had a little VBS worship time. One of the guys who works at the DTC was dancing around with LD in his arms. As I looked over at LD slowly he started to smile. Instantly that smile turned into laughter and he continued giggled for a solid five minutes. He didn't stop smiling for the rest of the afternoon and I can't tell you how many times I've thought about that little kid with his bright smile.

I saw Jesus in the DTC. I saw people who LOVED these kids who really needed it. I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay and hug and play and laugh with all of those kids who have a home life that I can't even begin to imagine. There are a lot of things that I do in life that just don't resonate with my heart. Serving these kids did and I simply didn't want to stop. Nick agreed when I said "Couldn't you just do that every day for the rest of your life?" Sign me up.

When I was driving home I couldn't help but think about Auburn. I know there are kids at home who need love. What I began to realize is that Memphis isn't the only place with kids who need love. Africa isn't the only place where kids need love. Auburn is that place too. Even in our churches and schools and homes there are kids who need love. Perhaps I'm stepping on some toes here, but just think about it. Pray about it. I will be too.

Well friends, thanks for checking in. I'm headed to bed because we're going to go feed the homeless tomorrow. Man that sounds surreal doesn't it? I'm sure it'll rock my world. I'll do my best to keep you updated! Pray continually!

Design+Ministry=A Happy Megan

To the right here is some of my handy work for the
youth group. The theme of our summer is "CLOSER".
What we hope to accomplish is to dive deeply and drink in what it truly means to be close to our Father. The scripture we're really going to be focusing on is from James and it reads: "Come close to God and God will come close to you" 4:8.

This is the shirt design and I think it turned out pretty well. I think it's my favorite one I've done. I also designed another tshirt for their spring retreat entitled "The Good Life". I just finished the tshirt for camp, but I can't show you guys that yet because it's tip top secret! (Okay if you're that curious e-mail me).

I'm also working on revamping the booklet for camp. I did a calendar for the summer which you can view in all of its glory on www.wsyg.org It's just too big to publish on the blog.

I'm so excited about tomorrow! We're having this event called "POWERHOUR". I mean, just the name is awesome. When ever I say it I do a little pump fist action - awesome. Anyway, what we do is go to a poorer part of downtown. We orchestrate with the DowntownCoC of Memphis to have our own mini VBS with the kids in the apartment complexes. It's rather simplistic but I love me some VBSin' so I think it'll be a ton of fun. We're going to be teaching the story of David and Goliath which is a personal favorite. It has a great song too!

I'll be doing my best to keep you guys updated but things are going to get CRAZY busy with camp coming up in 14 days. Please keep me, Nick, George and Courtney in your prayers as we try our best to get everything accomplished! Thanks for checking in

Violence Isn't the Answer

Hey everyone!

Memphis WorkCamp came to a close yesterday and it was a great week. Our team of 14 did an AMAZING job repairing, scraping, cleaning, landscaping and painting our house in OrangeMound of Memphis. Here are a few of the week's highlights I'd like to share with all of you.

One thing I've learned this week is that God is always ready to teach me a lesson. The most reoccurring lesson is one of patience. Just when I think I've got it under my belt there's always a new level that I need to grasp. Remember the kid that I told you about, you know, Tyler? Well God used him in a BIG way to teach me patience. For the rest of the week Tyler decided to have a vendetta against me. I want you to understand that he's a CHILD and I resolved that he simply didn't know what he was doing (or that he was off his ADHD meds). Regardless, he continued through the week to attempt more injuries. I'm of the persuasion that generally I have a plethora of patience. For some odd reason this kid just got the best of me. On the last day he kicked my leg where it was cut and attempted to strangle me (again) and I want to be honest here - I had to have a conversation with Jesus about it. I was so frustrated! I didn't understand his behavior and I'm pretty sure that violence isn't one of the usual five love languages. There was another college student on the crew with us and his name is Jake. He goes to Memphis University and he made a good point. Jake saw what was happening and said "Megan...Tyler needs just as much love as the kids in Uganda do." As soon as he said it I knew he was right. At that point I realized that God was trying to show me that every teen needs love in a different way and if you are going to be a disciple to them you have to find out what it is. Rodney did a GREAT lesson on Sunday about Genuine Love. The most memorable thing he said was "The hardest thing God ever asked us to do is LOVE. I can't think of anything harder than that." It was so true for me this week. It was hard for me to look at Tyler and think of love instead of kicking him in the shins. Even so, God used him to teach me so much and for that I'm thankful.

Another awesome thing that happened was getting to know one of the girls on my crew. Her name was Haley and she's a sophomore in high school. We were at the back of the house painting alone while everyone was working on the front. She looked over at me and said "Okay, this might sound really weird to you, but I've really felt God this week." Amazed I replied "No! That's not weird at all! That's AWESOME! So...when did that happen?" She explained to me that on Wednesday she just wasn't feeling it. She was tired of being hot and scraping the house, to which I nodded in agreement. Haley continued by saying that she glanced up when she was scraping and she saw the trees blowing in the wind. She said "Trees are just so beautiful to me and then the wind blew across my face and I just felt God's presence with all of us." I mean, wow. That was so cool to hear her say that. Sometimes I feel like we forget that God is in the simple things and it's incredible to be reminded by a 15 year old.

Those were the best moments of the week for me. Oh you might find this slightly humorous too. On the last night night Tyler found me and asked me to sign his shirt. I agreed as he handed me the sharpie and I decided to write him a little message. I put in quotations "Violence isn't the answer - love is." He said "I can't believe you wrote that on my shirt!" and I smiled with the reply "I can't believe you injured me but what I wrote is true." He grinned and jogged off.

Well I'm going to get back to writing my lesson on the Good Samaritan! Thanks for checking in

Rule Number One of Memphis WorkCamp

Hey everyone!

I hope this post finds each of you doing well. Things are going great here in Memphis. I just want to tell you that the longer I'm here the more I'm falling in love with these kids! It's just amazing how God is letting me see His work in their hearts.

I taught my first class (EVER) on Sunday. I'd done a few smaller "classes" before but not with this many kids. I taught a lesson on the Prodigal Son or SonS as I like to call it. I enjoyed digging through the scripture and I tried to be as Brinkerhoffian as possible. All of the kids said they enjoyed class (which is rare to come from the mouth of a middle schooler). One of the boys in the class, who doesn't believe, said "I liked it. She was really enthusiastic." I was so happy when George told me that because I want them to get EXCITED about the Word, to be EXCITED about their faith, and most importantly, EXCITED about their God. For the record, I love teaching classes. That's right, sign me up.

Monday was our first night session of Memphis WorkCamp. I was overjoyed to see the Auburn group there as well as Jacob and Mr. Dale. It was good to see some familiar faces and chat with everyone. It appeared that they were having a good time and I was able to check in with the kids every once in a while.

Man, after Monday night I realized why I loved going on youth trips so much in highschool. It's the worship. You won't find a more energetic and passionate group of worshipers. If you haven't had the experience of going with a youth group on a trip (yes it can be tiring and stressful...), you should go just to be a part of the fellowship and worship. I promise God will really bless you for it! We had a great speaker that night as well.

Today was our first day of working. We arrived at the house and met the homeowner. She was an elderly lady named Mrs.Reeds. She was exceptionally sweet and grateful for our desire to clean up the yard and paint her house. We spent all of today scraping the peeling sections of paint off of the siding. We also did some major weed-a-wackin' around the yard and gathering of trash. I think it's going to look amazing when we're through. We have a mix of kids from all different churches and they're a lot of fun.

Here is a story from our experience today. Ronnie (my co-team leader) was up on the roof scraping part of siding. He yelled down to one of the kids "Hey Tyler, can you toss me that hammer?" Well, Tyler being the fella that he is picked up the hammer and literally tossed the hammer onto the roof. Well apparently the hammer had other plans in mind and decided to bounce off the roof, hit a gutter, and come hurtling back only to take a nice section of my leg with it. Don't panic. It wasn only a scrape. We got it cleaned up and bandaged well. Now we just have a lesson learned: Rule #1 of WorkCcamp is- don't throw a hammer because they are fond of obeying the laws of gravity.

Well I'm plum tuckered out as my Mama Anne likes to say, so it's bed time for me. Thanks for reading and keep Memphis in your prayers!

Catching Up

Hey everyone!

I am happy to report that the KickOff went smashingly! Everyone enjoyed the video that we created and it got a few good laughs from the crowd. We had a great meal and enjoyed our fellowship together. I think everyone is very excited about what we have going on this summer. After the KickOff on Wednesday, we had the 6th grade Kidnap.

For this event we gathered the youth group early Thursday morning and went to the 6th grader's houses to grab them from their beds. We had a total of six 6th graders that were kidnapped. We brought them back to the church and had a big pancake breakfast waiting for them. It was a good time and I think the 6th graders felt welcomed into the WSYG. Once everyone was full from pancakes we played a few mixer games like Fruit Basket TurnOver and Red Rover (which is quite a dangerous game, we had a kid got hurt but he's doing better).

I had Friday off so I spent most of that day sleeping and recovering from the week. I passed out on my bed Thursday afternoon around 5pm and woke up late that night. Needless to say I got a lot of well needed rest! On Friday I met up with one of the 9th grade girls named Jesse who I've already made a quick connection with. She's an artsy kid so we have a lot in common. We went to a great Chinese food place and to Wal-Mart which isn't far from my house.

That night Nick, the Pettie's (Hunter, his sister Taylor, and their parents) went to see one of the guy's basketball games. His name is Marlyn and he's a basketball MACHINE. He's a lot of fun and it was good to see him play. When the game ended we went back to the Pettie's and had a delicious dinner. I mean...wow, she can cook! Nick and I ended up staying for a while and talking with the family. They're so much fun and just a sweet group to be around. Taylor is their daughter and she's in 8th grade. I really had a good time getting to know her. We watched some of the camp DVD from last year and it got me really pumped about Jr. High Camp. Apparently camp is the end all be all of the summer activities so I'm overly excited to experience that.

Today I slept till about 9am. I woke up and went to the Atlanta Bread Co. to work on my lesson for Sunday school. I am eager to teach the class because I haven't had that opportunity at home. I just get so hyper about talking in front of the kids. I hope that they understand that it's more than a story that we read out of the Bible from long ago but it applies to US; it's God's story for US and to US in hopes to draw us closer to Him and in turn He craves to be closer to US. Love it. See I'm already excited.

Excuse the digression....I met Nick up at the church as well as Hunter and Taylor. We went to Harding High School and watched several of the girls play basketball (Lindsey, Alley, and Chelsea). Sadly they lost, but the girls played hard and had some good hussle throughout the game. We got to say hi afterwards and I think they were glad to see us there. We ate lunch at Bennigans (like an AppleBee's). It was soooo good!

I came back home and worked through the rest of the afternoon preparing my lesson and writing some thank-you notes. We ate dinner and I've been doing laundry for the past few hours. Hooray for clean clothes! Well I'm going to try to finish up that chore and work on the camp tshirt. Hopefully I can finish that soon. Thanks for reading and keep up the prayers!