Sitting out on our deck this morning, I found myself lost in thought a bit. I’m not sure what I was thinking about, but all of the sudden all those thoughts stopped and I tuned in to the sounds all around me.
The sound of the bird with blue tipped wings sitting on the tree about 20 feet from me. The far off sound of some other birds chirping back and forth to each other. The sound of the wind blowing through the trees. The sound of a tiny chipmunk rustling through the leaves under that bush. The sound of those 2 squirrels chasing each other and jumping through the trees. The sound of bumblebees buzzing around the honeysuckle feasting on the nectar.
The more I listen for these sounds the more I hear. Some of these sounds I don’t know if I’ve ever paid attention to hear before. Isn’t that how this works… sometimes we don’t hear something until we choose to listen.
Then I had this thought, everything in nature has a sound. Even these 2 orange butterflies that are circling around my strawberry plants have a sound. They may not make “noise”…but their sound is in their vibrant colors. Why does sound exist? Maybe sound exists to get noticed. I noticed them today because of their vibrant colors standing out in stark contrast to the shades of green all around them.
Over the past few years we have discussed the idea that we (as human beings) have a sound. Several times we’ve found ourselves asking, “what is our sound?” What gets us noticed? What makes us stick out in stark contrast to the world around us? And today I’m reminded that everything in nature has a sound. Are we listening? What is your sound? What is our sound as this generation? I don’t know if I can describe it in words just like I can’t mimic that bird’s chirp….but I know it when I hear it. I think our sound has a lot to do with justice, with freedom, with finding our voice, with a drive and an ambition to change something around us, to be a part of something greater.
What sounds are you noticing today….what sounds are you listening for today?
Yesterday I was reading some pretty powerful material that one of my spiritual dads is writing these days. One of the focus verses was Proverbs 14:31. In The Message it reads like this:
“You insult your Maker when you exploit the powerless; when you’re kind to the poor, you honor God” Proverbs 14:31, MSG.”
Geez, insult your Maker?! That will hit you like a ton of bricks. Sigh. It's a powerful verse to say the least. As I'm reading through this devotional, the focus is in regards to how we handle the poor. Then this kicker of a question was asked:
How well do you think we’re doing as the Body of Christ with this topic? (serving & loving the poor)
This is one of those questions I’ll be chewing on for a bit. This is my first reaction….there will probably be more thoughts. I think we do an incredible job with this stuff when we’ve got our passport in our back pocket, our Nalgene filled with purified water, and when our feet are treading around in a foreign land somewhere. Ugh. I don’t like the way this is sounding, but I think it’s true. Why do we notice/see/serve the poor so much better abroad?
Last week as we were talking to our India team leaders, they shared with us that some of their students have started ministering in their free time to the population of homeless people that live at the local transit station in Calcutta near the team house. The issue is that they've been faced with some opposition. They have been directly addressed and strongly advised to not help these people because they are just free-loaders and they take advantage of the help that’s being given. This made me think about something...
I'm pretty sure that this situation is exactly the same here in the US. If a group of foreign exchange students came to the US and were living here for a short time and started a ministry to the homeless of Gainesville, would they be faced with the same scrutiny? I fear the answer might be yes.
So why is it that it’s ok in a foreign land but not your own? Why do we look at poor people differently in a foreign country and in our own backyard we think different about them? I don’t know. It’s not good. This isn’t judgmental, I’m in the same stinkin' boat. What have I done to serve those less fortunate here in Gainesville? It settles in my spirit about as well as food in India. Ugh.
Maybe it’s because when we’re somewhere besides “home,” it’s seen as a temporary thing. When we see the poor in our hometown this stuff hits too close to home.
Then I read through James 2:1-13 in The Message and he too speaks on this same topic. But I’m pretty sure James didn’t have parameters based on our physical location, at home or abroad, when he wrote this stuff. I'm reminded today that the poor are kinda a big deal in God's eyes. It's a good reminder of a perspective shift that's needed.
This is the stuff that's challenging me today as I continue to chew on this question: How well do you think we’re doing as the Body of Christ with this topic?
Sometimes you have to remove some old dead stuff to discover new life. Remove the dead things so the shoots of new life can sprout up.
I have this strawberry plant that I've had growing in a large container for 3 years now. It's resided on a few balconies/decks throughout the years.
Over the winter months I don't pay it much attention. Dead leaves fall from the oak trees above filling the strawberry container and providing a great insulator for the harsh winter weather. The leaves on the strawberry plant turn completely brown & look to be 100% dead. If it weren’t for my dad telling me about this, I would have chunked the whole plant that 1st winter.
But I have learned to wait for new life. Because like clockwork each March I start seeing bright green shoots springing up though the brown dead leaves. I love this sight!
Today I sat out on the deck for a few minutes in the sun. Butterflies were fluttering around. A noisy little bird was trying to communicate with me as he sat on the banister chirping away at me. One of those pesky carpenter bees was annoying the heck out of me. As I glanced over at the sad sight of my strawberry plant covered in death, I decided to love on this faithful plant & do some Spring-cleaning. It took me about 30 minutes to clear out all the dead leaves & vines. At one time I thought, well is it ALL dead? But I kept digging out the dead to reveal the life.
I was surprised to see at least 20 clusters of new blooms. Bright white flowers with yellow centers just waiting to be pollinated.
As I was digging out the dead stuff I also found a little surprise! In the very center of the pot I found a large seed looking thing about an inch long. It's cracked down the middle & out of the crack 3 or 4 roots have shot out & already planted themselves deep with the soil. I suppose it is an acorn that happened to fall in my strawberry patch. I decided it could stay. Perhaps I'll grow a tree with my strawberries. :)
As I was doing all this Spring cleaning and pruning this afternoon I started thinking about how this strawberry plant represents so many things in my own life. Sometimes I need to move aside, uproot, & dig out the dead things in my life to make room for the new shoots of life springing forth.
It's not that these dead things are bad, it's just that they were for another previous season and their time is done. They birthed new things and that's how it all works. I love that in the midst of removing the dead decaying material, I found so much new life.
My plant has plenty of room to grow now and I can't wait until I'm back here on this deck eating strawberries.
As I reflect on this God fills my mind with all sorts of “new life” things in me he’s springing up. Seeing that new life fills me with hope and expectancy of what’s to come.
This week we've been at Cherokee Retreat Center in White, GA for Passport Training Camp. 82 students. 15 leaders. A whole slew of staff and serve team and a worship team. It's been a great week! Our teams are preparing to head out tomorrow to one of these awesome places: Nicaragua, Thailand, India, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania.
It's been a full week and we're ready to launch these teams out. During training camp, we spend a lot of time preparing these teams for their trip. This includes time of worship and teachings on things like spiritual formation, feedback, vision, culture, and ministry training. We also have a plethora of FUN involving a variety of activities! It would be impossible to convey everything that went on this week at camp, but here's a little snippet...
Things NOT to do when you're NOT at training camp... -Bust out in random dance parties while you wait on the next planned activity
-Freestyle canoe outside of water with an imaginary paddle with a choreographed routine to the song, “Lady in Red”
-Randomly yell when you hear the name of your country spoken
-Refer to any room with sliding glass doors as “The Glass Castle”
Things I learned this week…
I would like to believe that every single day I can and should learn something new. Just because I’ve lost track of how many training camps I’ve been a part of doesn’t mean that I haven’t learned anything new this week. So here's some things that some people would call "useless facts" that I have aquired this week...
-Apparently you’re supposed to mount a horse from the horse’s left side. Otherwise the horse will be disoriented and confused, which would end poorly for you.
-Apparently there are things called urinal cakes. I learned about these things at the breakfast table this morning and all of their benefits and uses.
-I learned that freestyle canoeing is actually a competitive sport. If you don’t believe me, check out this video here. This is for real folks.
Things I LOVE about training camp: -The look on the faces of our leaders as they look at their team. They look a bit like new parents watching their child take their first wobbly steps.
-Watching students discover for the first time their true identity in Christ, as a child of God, and that God is absolutely crazy in love with them. This changes everything.
-Hearing stories from students and leaders about their life stories, their pain, their celebrations.
-Watching as students realize for the first time that they can hear God speak to them personally, that they can speak what He is saying into others around them to encourage and build up their team.
-Midnight runs to Sonic for ice cream and tater tots to process my day with my husband. :)
I have a new blog! If you haven’t noticed, it now says this blog belongs to “Kayla Hindes”…yep, that’s me! On October 29th, I married the love of my life, Nicholas Hindes. This guy:
We have a really sweet story that I’d love to tell you someday if I haven’t already. But in a nutshell, 2011 was a year full of some major transitions for both of us. January 19, 2011: Nick and I started dating….June 10, 2011: Nick proposes in the most incredible way…October 29, 2011: Nick and I get married and celebrated with family and friends here in Georgia.
“So Kayla…how’s married life?” I get that question a lot. It makes me laugh. I appreciate the sentiment, I do. It just cracks me up that I never got the question, “How’s single life?” before I was married. Just a humorous observation.
But to answer the question, married life is awesome!! Never again will I have to be alone. I will forever be protected, honored, and loved. After having approximately 13 roommates over the past 10 years, I now have a permanent roommate, yay! :) Nick and I have so much fun together. We laugh a lot, we share the deepest places of our hearts, we walk through new experiences together, we’re learning a ton about ourselves and each other, we eat new foods, and visit new places.
Nick and I also get to work together at Adventures In Missions. More specifically we both work with our Passport and Ambassador Departments. Passport trips are for college age students and Ambassador trips are for high school students. We work with both the students and their leaders. Nick oversees all of the team blogs for our students on the field. This involves reading and monitoring all communication that comes from the field. He prepares students before they arrive for training camp through these blogs. Nick also does a ton of interviews for male participants for all of our trips. I specifically oversee leader recruitment and mobilization. This involves relationship building and admissions as I get them from where they are currently through the process to lead a trip with us. Nick and I are both on the field support team as well. Each week we call our leaders on the field and check in with them to assess the emotional, physical, and spiritual health of both them and their team. We love being a position where we get to speak life into these leaders, empower them, and watch first hand God do a major work in their lives as they lead their team.
As I write this, we’re in the midst of another Passport training camp. We currently have 15 leaders here for some leader training before our 82 students arrive tomorrow. On Tuesday the teams will fly out to their respective countries. We’ll have teams in Nicaragua, Thailand, India, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania this Spring. Nick and I will be heading out to India and Kenya in March to spend time with these teams on their mid-trip debriefs. Stay tuned for blogs on how those teams are doing and what God is doing in their midst.
I hope this help update you on my life these past few months. Thank you for all of your prayers and support. We’ve received cards from so many of you congratulating us on this new incredible chapter of life we’re beginning. We love that you’re on this journey with us.
oose to listen. 
leaves on the strawberry plant turn completely brown & look to be 100% dead. If it weren’t for my dad telling me about this, I would have chunked the whole plant that 1st winter.
pot I found a large seed looking thing about an inch long. It's cracked down the middle & out of the crack 3 or 4 roots have shot out & already planted themselves deep with the soil. I suppose it is an acorn that happened to fall in my strawberry patch. I decided it could stay. Perhaps I'll grow a tree with my strawberries. :)
My plant has plenty of room to grow now and I can't wait until I'm back here on this deck eating strawberries.
head out tomorrow to one of these awesome places: Nicaragua, Thailand, India, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania. 
married life is awesome!! Never again will I have to be alone. I will forever be protected, honored, and loved. After having approximately 13 roommates over the past 10 years, I now have a permanent roommate, yay! :) Nick and I have so much fun together. We laugh a lot, we share the deepest places of our hearts, we walk through new experiences together, we’re learning a ton about ourselves and each other, we eat new foods, and visit new places.