Lessons From Afar

The youth group continued their mission work in Georgia today with a shift at a local soup kitchen. They had breakfast around 6:45 this morning and got to the soup kitchen early so they could make sandwiches and prepare for the lunch crowd. Teen Angel had a good time. Of course, she always has a good time when she’s feeding people.

She met some sweet ladies working there, one of whom reminded her of May from The Secret Life of Bees.

And if you don’t know who May is, you should run out right now, pick up that book and read it. Weepy, sweet chick book all the way and a very pleasant read. Don't just watch the movie! May is a character who more than makes up in love for what she lacks in knowledge.

Despite TA’s quips about the shelter, I could tell she was affected by what she experienced today. She talked of the way people lined up early for the meal and begged for food and water when staff came and went. And how they had to lock the doors when they went in and out before the meals because people tried to barge in. She came face to face with poverty, desperation and mental illness today. She also experienced the love and generosity of people who provide nourishment and comfort to those who struggle with life’s basic needs. It was good for her, whether she admits it or not. I knew it would be, and that’s why I pushed her into going on this trip. While the Hula-gen’s are not financially comfortable by any means, TA has always had a nice home, plenty to eat and her share of iPods and name brand clothes. I have to work pretty hard at helping her to understand what it’s like to go to bed hungry or have your electricity turned off. She gets really tired of me saying, “See what happens when you don’t get an education,” or “Just see how lucky you are?”

It hit me today though, that this week has been a lesson for me, too. I sometimes work so hard at teaching her lessons that I forget that I could be learning, too. Relying only on her texts and pictures and the occasional phone call, I’ve been forced to see this experience through her eyes. It gives me a glimpse into her thought process and ideas about the issues of poverty and loving thy neighbor. It challenges my ideas and makes me think about my own attitudes. It occurred to me last night that I am gaining more from her witty texts than a laugh or reassurance that she is okay while away from home.

And as if to reinforce that, I came upon this quote today: “If I am ready to learn anyone can be my teacher.”

I reflected upon that for a while at lunch and considered whether I truly learn from those around me or only those I single out as the “smartest” or “best educated”. The truth is I sometimes don’t. I’m often so intent on convincing someone else that my idea is the best or my opinion is the most accurate that I don’t hear what someone else is saying. (Insert smack to the forehead here.) I just don’t always know when to sit down, shut up and listen. Thankfully, Teen Angel is getting a healthy dose of that this week from the May’s of the world, a former drug dealer and some folks in need. I didn’t travel with her on this trip because I always chaperon, and I thought she needed the independence this time. It seems I got to go anyway.

Day 2 of the Mission Trip-Building A Reef

Can I just say it does my heart good to see my sometimes sloth like teenager sweatin' her hiney off while shoveling oyster shells? I get to use all of those parental nuggets like, "Hard work is good for you," and "It builds character." Or how about, "When I was your age I had to shovel oyster shells barefoot, in the snow, uphill, both ways?" Sigh. It just warms my heart to see her work. Of course, that has nothing to do with all of those mornings during summer vacation when she got to sleep in, and I had to be at work at 7am.

Teen Angel

Another youth group member

Notes From Our East Coast Correspondent

Teen Angel is in Georgia this week with the church youth group on a mission trip. They arrived last night at Epworth by the Sea, a Methodist retreat of sorts that hosts groups doing local mission work. While the kids are there, they will be doing everything from working in a soup kitchen to teaching young children at a Boys and Girls Club.

Teen Angel signed up to go several months ago and then started to weasel out on me a couple of weeks before time to leave. I think it had something to do with spending a week away from a certain boy and from her beloved job at the bakery. I big footed her into going under Parental Clauses # 6-Because it's good for you and #1-Because I said so. A few days before she left, she broke up with the boyfriend, and suddenly Georgia seemed like a much more appealing place to her. She stopped whining about it and got her bags packed. We loaded her up on a bus yesterday morning and by nightfall she and the youth group had made their way to the Georgia coast passing by many a boiled peanut/velvet painting/Dixie memorabilia stand. One of which prompted a text exchange between me and her where I jokingly told her to pick me up a Nascar toilet seat and she informed me they were out of those but that they had some with a rebel flag on them. And she was telling the truth. Oy vey! I can't even begin to describe how many ways THAT item is offensive.


It was just one of many chatty, witty texts we've exchanged in the past couple of days. That girl is quite sarcastic when she wants to be, a trait she obviously gets from her dad. Goodness knows she doesn't get it from me. Ahem.



For example: She informed me their bunkhouse looked like the 70's threw up. I told her it was a camp not the Hilton and that I didn't want to hear any complaints as she could smell the ocean and I couldn't. She replied that all she could smell was the neighbors' laundry drying on the clothesline. See what I mean? Sarcastic.



In the midst of all the jokes and teasing she shared details of their day today. They cleaned the yard of a woman who is wheelchair bound with Multiple Sclerosis, and TA talked about how fun the lady was. They met a man who used to be a drug lord in Miami. He served thirteen years in prison, got out and turned his life around. And then they helped to gather up excess produce at stores and restaurants and bagged it up and delivered it to residents of some very poor neighborhoods. The pictures of her and BFF are from TA's phone and BFF's mom. Who's that behind those Foster Grants?



They had a great time, and the youth minister says he didn't hear one complaint from a single teen today despite the heat and the hard work. I can tell TA's been touched by what she's seen so far, and they still have the rest of the week ahead of them. I'm glad. THAT falls under Parental Clause #12-One day she'll thank me for this.