Processed Thoughts - weeks 8 and 9 SMSM

"On the mountains I will bow my life to the One who set me there

In the valley I will lift my eyes to the One who sees me there

When I'm standing on the mountain I didn't get there on my own

When I'm walking through the valley I know I am not alone

You're God of the hills and valleys"

Hey y'all!

This is strange because I am sitting in my local Dunkin Donuts, not the one in Gatlinburg, writing the last blog from my Smoky Mountain Summer Mission trip.  I have been home now for 3 days and I am still processing what the past nine weeks have taught me.  Its hard to compact every little thing that occurred into a blog post, but I will do my best to explain to you what this summer meant to me.

So, to begin, the last two weeks of the mission were my favorite weeks of the whole summer, even with all of the emotional goodbyes.  Staff left and us students got closer than ever before. We had to learn to rely on one another and learn from one another to get us through the remainder of the mission.  However, here's why it was mainly my favorite part,  I learned more about why I was truly called to be in Gatlinburg this summer.  The beginning half of the summer I struggled with not being certain of who I was suppose to be reaching out to because there was such a broad spectrum of people.  However, God answered that question very clearly to me as I was driving on the spur with some of my friends late one night.  God took me to the Smoky Mountains to be relational with people.  A scary word in today's society because everything is a surface level interaction.  Relational means connecting two things.  How else are you going to share the gospel if you are not connected to the person you are trying to share it with?  That word became my reason for being in Gatlinburg this summer.  I was not there to just tell them about Jesus, but really understand who they were as a person.  God can work in both ways, but for me, I needed to be relationally intentional with people to plant seeds in their lives.  I saw Him do amazing things while I was there.  And because of that word relational, that also meant being vulnerable with people and sharing struggles that I face as well.  People were hen more willing to be open and honest in return.

Build relationships.  That's what I did the past nine weeks.  With co-workers, international students, and the 42 other students that I was living with.  The song lyrics that are written above come from the song "Hills and Valleys," and it reminds me of my time this summer.  God is the one who took me to the Smoky Mountains, He had this planned for me.  In the times when I was struggling with knowing who I was there to witness to, God never left my side.  He was showing me something that I needed to find by relying on Him.  God is so good.  He led me to have beautiful conversations about Him.  I was able to share how awesome our God is to international students and answer tough questions, all in the power of the Holy Spirit.  On the highest peaks of my summer, God was there, and in the lowest of times this summer, God was still there. 

And what is one of my blogs without the mention of LandShark?  Let me explain a little bit about the importance of my job this summer.  For those who might not be aware, the reason I had a job while on this mission is because that was our main place to meet people.  I worked Tuesday through Saturday every week, which meant, I mainly worked with the same people, and to continue from up above, that led to be able to make relationships with people.  LandShark became my home away from home.  The people there became family.  I am so grateful for the opportunity to share part of my life with them, and for them to have a part in my story now.  Working our last shift was sad because we had spent so much of our time with these people, that it was really hard to leave all of them.  We had spent so much time making new friendships and non of us were ready to leave them, I still wish I could snap my fingers and be back behind the host stand (I am sure Johnna would agree).  God is so sovereign and works in such mysterious ways.  He was so present the entire summer at LandShark.  I am so so thankful that Smoky Mountain Summer Mission allowed me to meet some of my favorite people.

Friday, July 28th.  The day all 43 of us dreaded, came too quick.  We all knew it was right around the corner all summer long but none of us really wanted to accept it.  I never thought I could love 42 other people in such different ways, but wow, it happened.  We are from all over, so the chances of us all being together in one little town again is unlikely,praying for a miracle though ;). Each one of us having such different personalities and strong characteristics.  When the staff left, they said we would grow closer as a community, and they were not wrong.  Relying on one another and building a stronger community is what took place.  So when that dreaded day came, not one person was ready to say goodbye.  Many tears were shed and hugs were shared. 

I am so grateful for the prayers and support that I received for this trip.  I can honestly say that this has been the best summer of my life.  I would not have changed one thing about this trip because I was constantly learning to rely on God, in the good and the bad times.  Please continue to pray for us students as we transition back into a different community of people, for the international students that are still in Gatlinburg, and for all of the people we met while we were there.  I appreciate all of your support so much more than I could ever say!

God bless,

Keara