Viva la Mexico!

There have been a few times in my life when I've done some pretty spontaneous and silly things, but this one was a lot of fun. I left work at 5:00p on Friday and drove straight through to El Paso that night from Colorado Springs. Yeah, that was interesting. The first leg of the trip was beautiful - the sun was setting over the Rocky Mountains, weather was perfect. Good day for a road trip. Then it started getting dark - and darker. My eyes started getting tired. But the Mountain Dew and caramel Apple Pops help get me through the night. I pulled into El Paso at 3:00a and parked in a church parking lot. I was so nervous that a cop was going to pull up and think I was a Mexican hopping border so something that it took a while to fall asleep. But I woke up at 5:22a and crossed the border.

Driving into Mexico by yourself at 5:30 on a Friday morning is quite different than it normally has been. I've been to Juarez at least 10 times now. But my one day excursion was by far the best trip I've had. By the time I got there that morning - everyone was still asleep. Juan wasn't awake to open the gate - so I had to hop the fence. Thanks to Tim Kuenker, I didn't rip a hole in my jeans. Seeing everyone there was awesome. I remember some of these friends from when they were still in junior high (like 6 - 8 years ago). Now seeing them all in college, thinking about careers, walking with Christ - it was kick butt awesome. And totally worth the 10 hour drive.

They had already worked on the house the day before and by the time we got to the site - I saw a solid foundation, all four walls up, the roof on, blackboard covering the whole house and partly chicken wired! UNBELIEVABLE that they finished all that in one day. Of course, they had lunch delivered, it wasn't hot at all and siesta wasn't necessary - but come on, none of the houses we've worked on have ever been done so quickly. On Saturday I worked the whole day after only two hours of sleep. Granted I did chicken wire and electricity all day - but it was fun. The entire house was finished by Saturday afternoon at 4:00. Craziness. So, we did the dedication, watched the family and everyone else cry and then headed for Peter Piper's where I proceeded to then pass out on the table.

All in all, it was an awesome trip and will probably be my last with all of those people. Thus, it's bittersweet. Hopefully where I'm going in Dallas I'll find people like those I miss in St. Louis. They are good people.

More later... taking a nap now.

Running for the Border

I always thought it was quite humorous to think of those people who are running for the border. And of course, we all like to joke of the border towns where all you see is people hopping the fence or swimming the creek to get to freedom.

Well, I'm headed for the border - but not with that attitude. Yeah, I'm going to get in my car after work tomorrow at 5:00 and drive from Colorado Springs to El Paso to meet some friends who are working with Casas por Cristo to build a house this weekend. It's going to be a long day tomorrow, but I'm pumped. I can't wait to get out of this town. So, hopefully I won't run into any crazy Mexicans, but will find my way around fine and that my car won't get stolen. :)

Pray for me! :) I love having the freedom to just get away. I'll be back Monday. Which unfortunately means that I'm not going to get to work on this blog this weekend! Oh well...

Hasta luego!

DP, are ya with me?

Can I tell you that Dr. Pepper is headquartered in Plano, TX... future home of Kimi Pellegrino and a rocking WyldLife ministry. Yeah DP! Do you think they would give me a corporate sponsor if they need how much DR I actually drink!??!

Radar

This is Radar, my little chico de Mexico. He's a lot of fun. But he tends to bring sticks and pine cones into the house instead of chewing on his sticks... mom doesn't appreciate that much. He's a cutie though!

The One When Friends Comes to an End

It's such a bittersweet day of history that Friends will come to and end tonight. We all know that Ross and Rachel will get together and Monica and Chandler will have their baby. Pheobe will always be a freak and Joey's show in the fall will most likely flop. Does it get any better than the last ten years of Thursday night television? I'm not so sure.

Tonight I'm going to a Friends and Fondue party and I'm truly beginning to feel that "I'mgettingold" feeling all of us young twenties dread. You begin to realize that you were actually alive and can remember when Friends first started. It's has been interesting to "fall into" the story of Friends and the over the last decade watch the story unfold.

I think that many people (especially those who have "grown up" watching Friends) crave relationships much like those between Monica, Rachel, Pheobe, Joey, Chandler and Ross. It just always seems like so much fun, life always works out in the end. But I always wondered what it was about this show that makes it so good. Why do we anxiously await for Thursday evenings and now three times a day, Monday through Friday??

I was joking around with the ladies at work today that a chapter of my life is ending. But when I think about it - it's kinda true. Isn't that pathetic?? :)

So I'm moving to the Big D

So today I told the guys in Plano, TX that I would love to do an internship with WyldLife... but thoughts keep going through my head ... AM I NUTS? Plano, TX? Why so far away? Why with middle school kids? Why in Plano - where Young Life has really struggled to get off the ground??!?!? So many questions and yet, I have no answers. I also interviewed in Chicago, where - to be honest - I felt completely comfortable. The people were so awesome. It's high school Young Life ministry with kids just like those I went to school with. The Area Director and his wife were kick butt awesome people. But it was almost too comfortable. Knowing me, I need large challenges that will cause me to stretch and grow. Which I'm sure could have also happened in Chicago, especially seeing that I was only 15 minutes from IKEA. What am I thinking?