Summer, Part 1

      Okay, I`m back again, this time for awhile. Until I go to Colorado anyway. ;) Anyway, like I said in my last post I will share with you die-hard readers all about my trip to New Orleans and my family`s vacation to Yellowstone and all that jazz. =D But I will only have time for one today. The other will have to wait until part two. So first things first: New Orleans.

Wow. What an amazing trip!! I will briefly sum up what I feel God showed/taught/blessed me those ten days. One of the things would definitely be contentment and joy. The kids we were with at the day camp we ran and the "Challenge Circles" that we did were so happy just to throw a football around with you or even just to talk to you. That just made their day. And they have next to nothing materially. And yet they`re always so content and happy. I look at myself and think, "Wow. I complain and grumble ALL the time!!! And I have all this stuff!! A lot of these kids don`t have one or both parents!!" But the thing that God really pricked my heart with was that I had Christ, and most of these kids didn`t and that as a Christian, I should be one of the most joyful people because I have been given LIFE!!!!! Shouldn`t that make me so uncontrollably joyful?!? Jesus Christ lives on the inside of me!! Crazy. I don`t know if any of that made sense, because I`m not very good at taking what`s inside my head and expressing it clearly to other people, but, I hope you got the gist. Another thing that God taught me during that time was that it is SO important to start off your day with His word. The first couple of mornings, I was like, "Ah, I don`t really have time, we have to leave really soon, I`ll just try and read it tonight." The main reason though was because I didn`t really have a desire to those first couple mornings. But, oh man, throughout those days when I didn`t read my Bible in the morning I just struggled in my spiritual battle. I`m just like, "Why is this happening?? Why am I struggling so much with this?" But then for the rest of the week we started off our morning with our personal devotions first, and then group devotions. And there was definitely a spiritual battle just like there always is, but I felt ready to take on Satan and whatever he threw at me, with God`s strength. And I probably wouldn`t have read my Bible that week, just for lack of desire, but because of those personal devos, I did. I learned that even when you don`t really feel like reading your Bible, it is so important just to do it anyway. Again, I hope that kinda made some sense. There is sooooo much more to tell, but it would probably take up a whole blog, so, if you want to talk to me about it, I`d be happy to tell you guys everything. :) Thanks for reading, and now I will post some pics from the trip.

Luise, Naomi, and Cassandra. Out cold. :)

At the church on the way down in Tyronza, Arkansas. Pretty cool story behind our stay there for the night.

Lots of card playing. This is a rendition of Spoons. Played with pew pencils.

And Ginger turning them into breath-taking art. That`s a cat if you couldn`t tell.

On the road again. FUN FACT: We got over 50 semis to honk on the way down.

The forever bridge. No other name fits it.

Super Dome.

The Yellow House. This is where we stayed the whole week. It`s pretty legendary.

Noah DeRoos up top and Dean in the middle.

FRENCH QUARTER!!

Cafe Du Monde!! Beignets. Amazing.

They were filming a movie while we were there. Pretty cool.

We went inside this really big Catholic church.

It was huge.

One of the guys I met from the Texas group that was there too, Joel. He was a cool guy. And a really good saxophone player. And he hit his head on the ceiling fan spinning at top speed. Yeah. There`s a lot of stories about Joel.

Waterslide at the day camp for Fun Friday. It was actually pretty fun.

And a bouncy house. I didn`t go in there. But I bet it was fun.

Me and one of the other Texas guys that roomed with us named Holden. You can`t really define Holden. Let`s just leave it at that. :D

Picture of all the interns that are there throughout the summer. Amazing, Godly people.

Me and one of the interns, Jordan. Really cool guy.

On the way back home, staying at a college.

   There are a lot more pictures and stories, but those will have to wait. Thank you for reading about our trip and there is a LOT more to tell, so please, ask me or any of the other people who went for more!!! Hope you are all having an awesome summer, and I hope you guys have a great Fourth of July!!!!



--Rye Bread