More Volleyball

LOTS more.

All-Saturday-long more.

And then I took a few turns selling pizza and gatorade in the canteen like a soccer mom.

Drew and I got home at 4.

He was physically tired. I was emotionally spent.

At 6 pm I left the house again, picked up three friends and drove down to White Rock beach. We walked.

And talked.

And dreamed.

And planned.

And enjoyed the walk along the promenade, then pier, watched the sun set, saw starfish move and seagulls swim ...

Then had dinner at a happenin' Greek restaurant where the male, firebreathing, mascara-ed up belly dancer gyrated his privates right in our faces.

It was awesome.

I got home and 11:15 and planned the Mexico Sunday service with Clint til 3:45 am. I got the slideshow ready, then wrote my "speech". He worked on the video presentation and finished at 9:05 am.

We got to church a little bit tired.

But it was good. Very good.

Everyone who spoke did an amazing job communicating all that was on their hearts. Britt, Adam, Jordan, Tanya, Larry, and Tracey... Wow! You guys did awesome.

Clint - you are the king of video editing. I am so proud of you...

John 3:16 guys - You ROCK.

Bailey, Leanne, Stacy and Meghan - thank you thank you thank you. You are the greatest.

And regarding my 3 minutes? I wrote it out at 3 am. Re-read it a few times after that, quasi-memorizing it. I planned to re-write it using bigger letters and black ink after I finished setting up the chips & salsa and finished decorating the gym with Mexican blankets. But when I got to the library to take a few minutes to catch my breath, I sensed that God wanted me to share something a little bit different than I had planned. Something more personal. Something that would choke me up when I spoke.

Hate it when that happens. I wanted to keep to my script.

And I did. For the first minute. Then I said to God in my head, "OK, I'll do this Your way." And I put down my notes and talked about the way God answers prayer. And a tear or two fell. And my voice got all waverly. And I wished I had gotten more sleep this week. And I wished I was in a size 7 Vera Wang gown with Mac make-up on my baggy, craggy face.

I encouraged everyone to take a photo off the Mexico wall, and pray for one of those kids.

BECAUSE PRAYER MAKES A DIFFERENCE.

After it was over, and I cried some more with a few women, I went around handing out waiver forms to all the youth because the teens will be spending next weekend at the lake, retreating, and I'll be coordinating and cooking. Because I just haven't been busy enough this fall.

The kids and I went out for lunch afterwards, then two of us had naps. Wonderful-middle-of-the-day rests. In a quiet, albeit filthy, house.