beach reach 2005

I wish I knew where to begin. I have been searching for words since returning, finding no combination adequate enough to describe my Spring Break. I will never pray the same, I will never worship the same, I will never serve the same, and I will never be the same. The Beach Reachers and the spring breakers were some of the coolest people I have ever met! I met people from all over the country this week, all coming in to participate in South Padre's annual Spring Break festivities. It was wild at times, with riots that made the national news, and it was calm at others, with vacant beaches cleared by the harsh wind and cold. I miss their faces already-- the faces of those with whom I served all week. The UT group drew from four different campus ministries, as well as taking in some TCU, Tech, and A&M students. Beach Reach as a whole brought in 450 students from across the country, giving up their Spring Breaks to serve their peers. As I mentioned before, we were serving pancakes late night and in the mornings, offering free van rides up and down the island, and hanging out with some really awesome people. :)

My Team: Choong-Fai, Brian, Rebecca, and Alix

It was an honor to serve as a team leader, and my team was incredible. Rebecca came to Beach Reach last year, and her experience was such an asset. Choong-Fai and I have known each other since Freshman Orientation, and seem to keep running into one another. He was stuck with me this week. Brian is a sophomore engineer at UT, and Alix came to us from TX Tech. In fact, my entire team was made up of science minds, which was interesting at times for me. But God used us, individually and as a team. By the end of the week my team realized that cutting loose and joking with our van passengers about Christian stereotypes was our calling. Demonstrating to our fellow students that we can laugh at ourselves with them was a powerful ministry to some of them. I ended up telling one passenger, Ed, who kept insisting on giving us money that we couldn't accept it because we would have to offer it up for ritual sacrifice. Alix told a group of students that "Buddy Christ" loved them (which is a reference from the movie Dogma). It was authentic interaction, and it was returned with authentic appreciation.

I loved that spending time on the beach with people was considered a ministry. We were to do whatever we wanted on the beach with people that would have us interacting with the spring breakers-- which could be anything from frisbee to talking to people about the daily sand sculptures. It was cold for a lot of the week, but it was beautiful when we arrived and when we left. We worshiped on the beach twice, as well as cleaning it in the mornings and baptizing people in the ocean.

After an entire week of people-- living with them, working with them, praying with them, worshiping with them, serving with them, laughing with them-- I found myself alone on my ranch out in Dripping Springs. The silence was unreal. And as much as I longed for the separation and the silence all week, all I could think of was my fellow Beach Reachers. I've already promised to start attending the Texas Wesley Thursday gathering so I can see my girls. :)

I watched God work all week. I love that He uses us, even though He doesn't need us. And He would energize us and keep us moving as we sought to do His work, making 3 hours of sleep feel like 8. I love that He used me, even though I tried to do things in my own power. He had to strip me of my pride a time or two, which hurts like hell. I found out that I have a lot of pride issues this week, and I needed Him to point them out. He broke my heart several times, and I would open my eyes to find myself on the floor in the middle of worship sobbing openly. He moved in each of our lives, even though this week wasn't about us at all.

Once I realized that I was attempting to do things in my own power- I gave it all up to Him. I was powerless and weak. That's when He began to use me. I was sick and and weary, and had no choice but to rely fully on Him. That's when He used me. I love the way the Lord works. By the end of the week, I couldn't stop seeing wing imagery in my head every time I spoke to God. I looked up wings in Scripture. There are 7 refernces, 6 of which are in the Old Testament. God uses wings to catch us, bring us to Him, to offer refuge, and comfort. And then it happened that every time that I worshiped, I discovered that my arms would spread wide like wings, and for the first time, I worshiped in full freedom in Him without a single care or thought of my surroundings or actions.

Six of our guys opted to camp out instead of staying in the motel. They got to know the other campers, and served in that area as much as they could. I got the opportunity to serve pancakes out there one morning, and then to help out after the windstorm. As the some of guys repaired tents and helped out the campers, others of us cooked hot dogs and hung out with them. I laughed so hard that afternoon! As it turned out, even though this was not an official Beach Reach ministry, it was my favorite time where I feel that I served best. We had so much time to sit around and to get to know people. That's what my ministry is really about.

Hanging out at the campgrounds with some of the coolest people on the island :)

IHOP Reunion... one day after we got back!

I love that we couldn't go a full day without seeing each other again. We met up at IHOP to have, what else-- pancakes! As if we didn't each eat our weight in them this week! As we sat around comparing how many hours each of us had slept the night before, I sat back and watched. These creatures, so uniquely different, God uses in dramatically different ways, but all for the same single purpose. We exist to glorify God-- to love Him, to serve Him, to love each other, and to serve each other. That's what we did this week. We love Him, so we loved on people.