The drive was FOREVER. And wanting to get to our new home didn't help. After 5 hours of driving in the car, with little kids crying, and everyone starting to get fussy. We finally arrived. And i think none of us were prepared for what we saw at that moment. Words can't describe how i felt, but i'll try to name a few. Scared. Shocked. Horrified. 
It was a very big shock to some of my siblings, but we told them that this was what God had planned for us, and no scary apartment, or creepers will stop Him from finishing His plan. As we walked into our apartment i was shocked. It was...clean. We had a new carpet, and new refrigerator. And the rooms were big (which is always a plus when you have 6 kids) Once we were almost done unpacking, i walked out to our car. Alone. Everything was going great (minus the fact that we were getting stared out from every corner) I grabbed a box, and started to our apartment, when a car stopped (not always a good sign) I couldn't move, because it was blocking my way, so i prayed. Hard. The guy rolled down his window, he looked in his mid-twenties. "You have $10?" he asked me. I slowly shook my head. He nodded to our van "You're unpacking right? Well maybe you could give me $10 for helping you." "Um..no.." i said, and dodged his car as i raced to our apartment. Thanking God for protecting me. And that was the end of our unpacking for that day. Thank you Lord!
We finally finished unpacking, and i didn't run into my "friend" again. Once we settled in, we sat down, and began to register that we were here at last! We got a call from another couple going through boot camp. They said that they were about 30 minutes away. So we waited. Finally there was knock at our door, we opened the door, and on the other side, was the couples smiling faces. We sat and talked for 20 minutes. They told us about their trip to Iraq (I was really interested in that part :P) And why they came to boot camp. We offered to help them unpack, and they accepted. So we grabbed Katelyn and her roommate from their apartment, and headed out to the couple's car. After a few trips back and forth, it was just Kate and me. And these two guys had been watching us. Finally they stopped Kate and me. "Hey." they said. My hand began shaking. "Hey." Kate said, sounding so normal, she didn't even sound scared. At all. "It's nice to know we have nice ladies here." one of them said, smiling. "Yeah!" Kate said, laughing under her breath. Awkward. Then Kate and I went out to the car, and something was digging through our trash. We looked over and a homeless man was digging through it. He smiled as he walked away with a bag of chips, a bottle with a little bit of drink left, and an empty trash bag. (this was one of the most hardest moments for me the whole week) We FINALLY began getting ready for bed. We were all exhausted. But none of us got ANY sleep. At all. Even though 4th of July was the next day. There was fireworks, all night. But we didn't see them so we thought that they were gun shots. (Well it was the 4th of July..But was like 3 in the morning. really.)
We all woke up excited about church at a coffee shop, i mean it's not everyday you go to church
at a coffee shop! As we pulled up to the coffee shop, it was nothing like we pictured it to be. It was wonderful! Worship was great, i totally felt God's presence. The whole thing was like Nomads in an hour. It was fabulous! After that we got together for a 4th of July party! (party to the hearty!!) Not much happened that day. We slept through most of it. Which was nice.
Monday, first day officially of Boot Camp! As we piled into the car, our hearts raced, it had finally started, our first week of
Boot Camp! Finally! But my heart broke as a looked out the window, and saw a man sitting on the side of the road, holding a sign that said 'Help anything. Please' I tried to hold back the tears as we drove a way. Why didn't God help this man! I knew that He could why wouldn't He?! But then i thought, God has a plan for this man. Even if part of that plan is being homeless. It's part of God's plan, and it doesn't matter if i don't understand. He knows what He's doing. Much more then i do. As we turned the corner, there sat another homeless man. Holding a sign that said 'Help me. God bless.' (thanks, for breaking my heart once more) Finally we arrived to the campus. "At last." we all told our self. Our parents waved to us, as they headed toward there classroom, and us kids to ours. We were all tired, after getting up at 7 a.m and going to bed late. We stayed on campus from 8:30-4:00. Quite a long day. And that's about how that rest of the week has gone like that..But this week. Well that's a whole other blog post :)
It was a very big shock to some of my siblings, but we told them that this was what God had planned for us, and no scary apartment, or creepers will stop Him from finishing His plan. As we walked into our apartment i was shocked. It was...clean. We had a new carpet, and new refrigerator. And the rooms were big (which is always a plus when you have 6 kids) Once we were almost done unpacking, i walked out to our car. Alone. Everything was going great (minus the fact that we were getting stared out from every corner) I grabbed a box, and started to our apartment, when a car stopped (not always a good sign) I couldn't move, because it was blocking my way, so i prayed. Hard. The guy rolled down his window, he looked in his mid-twenties. "You have $10?" he asked me. I slowly shook my head. He nodded to our van "You're unpacking right? Well maybe you could give me $10 for helping you." "Um..no.." i said, and dodged his car as i raced to our apartment. Thanking God for protecting me. And that was the end of our unpacking for that day. Thank you Lord!We finally finished unpacking, and i didn't run into my "friend" again. Once we settled in, we sat down, and began to register that we were here at last! We got a call from another couple going through boot camp. They said that they were about 30 minutes away. So we waited. Finally there was knock at our door, we opened the door, and on the other side, was the couples smiling faces. We sat and talked for 20 minutes. They told us about their trip to Iraq (I was really interested in that part :P) And why they came to boot camp. We offered to help them unpack, and they accepted. So we grabbed Katelyn and her roommate from their apartment, and headed out to the couple's car. After a few trips back and forth, it was just Kate and me. And these two guys had been watching us. Finally they stopped Kate and me. "Hey." they said. My hand began shaking. "Hey." Kate said, sounding so normal, she didn't even sound scared. At all. "It's nice to know we have nice ladies here." one of them said, smiling. "Yeah!" Kate said, laughing under her breath. Awkward. Then Kate and I went out to the car, and something was digging through our trash. We looked over and a homeless man was digging through it. He smiled as he walked away with a bag of chips, a bottle with a little bit of drink left, and an empty trash bag. (this was one of the most hardest moments for me the whole week) We FINALLY began getting ready for bed. We were all exhausted. But none of us got ANY sleep. At all. Even though 4th of July was the next day. There was fireworks, all night. But we didn't see them so we thought that they were gun shots. (Well it was the 4th of July..But was like 3 in the morning. really.)
We all woke up excited about church at a coffee shop, i mean it's not everyday you go to church
at a coffee shop! As we pulled up to the coffee shop, it was nothing like we pictured it to be. It was wonderful! Worship was great, i totally felt God's presence. The whole thing was like Nomads in an hour. It was fabulous! After that we got together for a 4th of July party! (party to the hearty!!) Not much happened that day. We slept through most of it. Which was nice.
Monday, first day officially of Boot Camp! As we piled into the car, our hearts raced, it had finally started, our first week of
Boot Camp! Finally! But my heart broke as a looked out the window, and saw a man sitting on the side of the road, holding a sign that said 'Help anything. Please' I tried to hold back the tears as we drove a way. Why didn't God help this man! I knew that He could why wouldn't He?! But then i thought, God has a plan for this man. Even if part of that plan is being homeless. It's part of God's plan, and it doesn't matter if i don't understand. He knows what He's doing. Much more then i do. As we turned the corner, there sat another homeless man. Holding a sign that said 'Help me. God bless.' (thanks, for breaking my heart once more) Finally we arrived to the campus. "At last." we all told our self. Our parents waved to us, as they headed toward there classroom, and us kids to ours. We were all tired, after getting up at 7 a.m and going to bed late. We stayed on campus from 8:30-4:00. Quite a long day. And that's about how that rest of the week has gone like that..But this week. Well that's a whole other blog post :)
Wow! Sounds like you've had quite the adventurous time! I will be praying for you Tay!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about seeing homeless people and just feeling your heart go out for them. We don't have a lot of homeless people here in KS, but whenever I don see one, my heart sinks and I get this feeling inside of me like, "I want to help them so bad, but I can't." That is one reason why I feel so called to India. There's a lot of people like that there. (Of course, there is everywhere else too.) Touching post!
-Anna