This week was absolutely absurd or at least that is what I would have said at any point in my life before now.

Throughout this past week, we were making an actual attempt to live like Jesus did. Jesus fasted and feasted. He nourished bodies and souls. He helped the poor and the broken-hearted, but always spent time with the Father. He showed his followers and friends a new way of life; he prayed and was obedient. 

What does this mean for us?   It means less than four consecutive hours of sleep in a week, and the most God-filled adventures of our lives.

I only have space to share with you about one night. So, I choose Thursday because it was interesting but not startlingly so.   After splitting our large group into two teams earlier that day, gathering and concocting food for twice as many people as there was in each team, we set out for the unknown in our undersized 15-passenger vans. We were asking the Lord (because this was an ATL time) where He wanted us to go and what He wanted us to do with the food. Kathleen, Alison, and Garrett all felt like we were supposed to minister at the plaza. So, to the plaza we went.

The first person that I was glad to meet was a man who introduced himself accordingly, " Yes, I am American. That is why my English is so good. They tried to arrest me for killing a Police Officer, but I wasn't killing a Police Officer.  I was killing the man who was in bed with my wife."  I have no response; Brittany has no response, and likewise KC has no response. What do you say to that? After a brief silence, "Do you want some food?" We talked to this very clean-cut homeless-in-Mexico-Floridian for quite sometime, and some others in our group discussed faith with him but his heart would not change that night. However, our group definitely made him question some of his beliefs and gave him some ideas to ponder. I would also like to note here that he only approached us to inquire whether or not we were hippies, not a first for us.

While others were still discussing theology with him, I rejoined the girls by the food station we had set up and six boys from Matamoros came along to speak with us. They ranged in ages from sixteen to twenty, but the one who spoke for all of them was my age and had the prettiest clear sea green eyes that I have ever seen. The boys did not speak much English and we did not speak much Spanish but we could understand enough. Each of them was employed at the Municipal Building located adjacent to the plaza that we were in, and their shift was about to begin at 11pm. At 5am, they would get off of work and go home before they had to go to school at 9am. And then repeat. That was their life and they were happy, and I was scared. After experiencing only a week of exhaustion, I was excited. But could I live my life like that always, and still be joyful like them? As I reconsidered once again the path that I have chosen, I did not know the answer to the question and I still don't.

2 Timothy 2:13   If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

Because God is good,

Nadia Lavon Neil