Americus Blog #2: Man vs. Americus

  Man vs. Americus

This past week in the heart of Americus I undertook a challenge of tasty proportions. Monroe’s Hotdogs has been a local staple of good American eats here in Americus for years. They have everything from hotdogs to hamburger steak to a chicken dog. Their main attraction, however, is a behemoth dish called the Scramble Dog. Weighing in around a pound to a pound and a half, the Scramble Dog is a massive dish filled with two red hot hotdogs smothered with chili, cheese, and a layer of cole slaw. At first glance it’s a lot to take in, but as soon as you start tearing into it you start to realize just how delicious it really is. I personally have never taken any kind of eating challenge. This wasn’t an official eating challenge, either, but the children’s minister here at Central Baptist, Kevin, told me and my friend David that if we ate the entire dish that, he would give us some free T-shirts from the church. Now, you know how college-aged students are. They will do just about anything for a free T-shirt. I wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass me by, either. So, I grabbed a fork and I got to it. The initial taste of the Scramble Dog was one of pure bliss. It was amazing. As time passed by, though, it got harder and harder. I’m not going to lie, there were moments when I didn’t think I was going to finish it.  With every bite it got harder and harder to go on and finish, but with endurance and stamina I finished the dish up and got my free T-shirts! It was worth it, but I don’t think I’ll be eating another Scramble Dog any time soon.

On a more serious note, this past week has been amazing. My fellow missionaries and I worked with some college students from Central and the children’s minister to put on a backyard Bible club at a local park. We played games with the five consistent kids that we had, and we just loved on them and told them about the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior. It was such a great experience. We were also able to minister to some adults who would just be passing by the park, too. It has been great here in Americus. Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts, and please be in prayer for us as we gear up for our mission trip to Louisiana. God is great and greatly to be praised. All glory to His name.

                                                                                                                                                In Christ,

                                                                                                                                                                Derek Hale 

Americus Blog #1

Americus Blog #1

Hi everyone,

This is my blog for my summer missions experience in Americus, Georgia. For those of you who don’t know, I am working with Central Baptist Church in Americus for six weeks. This is my first week here, and I can tell you already that I love it. The staff at Central is great, and the man we are working for is the Minister of Music, Joe Horan. This first week we have been working at the church with their VBS. The theme is “SKY” and the motto for the week is “Everything is Possible with God.” It has been a great week so far.  My team and I are playing in the VBS worship band, and I am working with the Bible story time while my teammates are working in other areas. Getting to see these kids respond to the Bible time in a positive way has been so enriching to my life. The first day, the kids were asked to trust God with the things that they could not control. The teacher asked the kids if they would pray about some things they couldn’t control and then ask God to trust Him with these things. It warmed my heart in a big way to hear those elementary school kids pray with such innocence and sincerity of heart.

                My team and I have had the amazing opportunity to bond through worship. Today, when we were tired, we strapped on the guitars and grabbed the mics and just worshipped the God who had brought us together. It was AMAZING! God is so great and this is going to be an amazing summer. My team is great. They are all super talented musicians and so on fire for God and His will for their lives. I am learning so much from them and am blessed to get to share this experience with them. Please be in prayer for us as well as Central Baptist Church and our VBS this week. My team is David Houser, Maghen Malcolm, and Taylor Turner.  Thank you all for reading and thank you for your prayers.

                                                                                                                                               In Christ,

                                                                                                                                                                       Derek Hale

The Conversation Part 2

                                                        The Conversation part 2

                “Hi, is this all for you?” she asked as she looked down at the things that Daniel had put on the counter. 

                “Yeah, that will be all, thanks.” Daniel said this as he reached into his back pocket for his wallet. Just as he was about to get the cash out of his wallet, the cashier said something that Daniel had never heard in his life.

                “Hey, how’s your soul?”

Daniel froze with his hand in his wallet. He had never heard such an icebreaker in his life. What was he supposed to say to that? Was this woman crazy? “How’s your soul?” What kind of question was that? It was like a freight train had just hit him in the chest. He stood frozen and wrapped in the words that he had just heard. After a moment of silence, the clerk spoke again.

                “I’m sorry, I know that is a personal question. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

Daniel was still stiff, but he managed somehow to answer the store clerk. “Um, it’s okay. No, don’t feel intrusive; it’s just that I’ve never been asked that question before.”

“Yeah,” she replied. “I know it is, but I get tired of people just casually walking by each other mumbling a careless ‘Hey, how are you?’ without really caring how they are.”

“Wow,” Daniel said. “I’ve never thought about it like that before. I guess you’re right. People always walk by and say stuff like that without really caring about their fellow man.”

“Yeah, I never like to ask people who come in to the store that question,” she said. “I actually want to know how people are doing and what’s going on in their lives. I don’t know, maybe I’m weird, but I just like to be connected with people who come into my store.”

“Well, it makes sense to me,” Daniel said. At this point in the conversation, he had started to relax, and, for the first time since his wife’s and child’s death, he was smiling. No one ever stopped to ask him how he was doing. It was always a short “I’m sorry for your loss” and then a quick exit. And if people did ask how he was doing, he could always tell that they only asked because they felt they had to and that something else was on their mind. Daniel, for the first time, had found peace in this store clerk he had only met a few minutes ago. She was young, maybe in her late twenties, and she was pretty. She had dirty blond hair and green eyes that pierced Daniel all the way to his heart. He wasn’t attracted to her as much as he was just enthralled by her kind-heartedness.  He thought the days of people actually being kind to him were over. Daniel had since moved to England to get away from the pain that he had been through in the States. As he stood there looking into this woman’s eyes, he somehow knew that this wouldn’t be the last time he looked into those eyes. He wasn’t thinking that he was going to fall in love with her because it had only been two years since he had lost his family, but he just thought that somehow in a weird, unexplainable way that this woman would be able to help him get back on his feet. He knew this because of her one simple question about his soul. Daniel thought to himself that she didn’t want to know about his soul, but, because she was inclined to know about her customers, he thought he ought to spill the beans.

“So, if you want, you can come back here and sit behind the counter. Not to be insulting, it just looks like you have a lot on your mind,” she said in her soft, sweet voice.

Daniel knew those green eyes had seen right through him. “Yeah, okay, thanks. My name is Daniel Regan, by the way.”

“My name is Emma Raleigh,” she said. “So, Daniel. What’s your story?”

And as he heard those words reverberate through his ears he knew that they were both in for a long night. “Well, if you must know… Here is my story.”

To be continued…

The Conversation

                                                             

Hey everyone, this is a new four-part blog that I'm writing that is in short story from. Hope you enjoy it. Thanks for reading!

                                                              The Conversation           

The small, dreary road was lit up by the effervescent glow of the street lamps that lined the path. The city of London was quiet and the fog was starting to rise, making the street cloudy. Daniel Regan was walking down the road as the stars just started to become clear in the sky above. Life had taken its turns in Daniel’s life, but still, somehow, he managed to remain calm, pensive, and even a little hopeful. Not many people understood why Daniel had quit his job and why he had moved to the London countryside. He didn’t really know the answer to that question, either. All he knew was that this was something that he always wanted to do and now that he had lost his wife, he knew that this was the next step in moving on with his life. His brown hair had started to show a little bit of gray and the bags under his eyes would be able to tell any stranger that his life had taken an unfortunate turn.  

                Daniel missed the time he had with his bride. All the nights they had spent walking around the small town where they had met in college, the night when he first told her that he loved her, and the day when they got married. He also missed his child. As he walked along the road, all these things kept washing over him like a wave hitting the shore.  He started to cry. He had finally been able to cry since he had lost his wife and, subsequently, his child. 

                He couldn’t help but think about what could have been. He couldn’t help but be a little scared of the impending future. With all these thoughts swirling through his head he did what any other man would’ve done in his predicament. He blamed himself. He decided to go into a little country shop and get some coffee for he thought that he might need some for the late night he had ahead. He walked into the cozy shop and immediately felt a warmth that he hadn’t felt in a long time. The whole store smelled of pumpkin and freshly baked bread. As he poured himself some coffee, he saw that the store keeper was fixing the radio and then smiling when she had found a familiar song. Daniel loved that song and it immediately reminding him of his wife. With the song getting to its catchy chorus, he knew that he had to get out of the store, even though it had been the first thing in a long time that had provided him with any kind of happiness. He walked up to the counter and paid for his coffee, and, as he did, the store owner began a conversation with him that he would never forget.